Russia's war in Ukraine
The prospects for extending the Black Sea grain deal are not favorable, the Kremlin says, claiming its concerns have yet to be addressed.
“The conditions that concerned us have not yet been implemented,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists Tuesday. “Therefore, the circumstances do not add up in favor of [extending] this deal for now.”
Russia has signaled that it will not support a new deal unless obstacles to the export of its own food stuffs, as well as fertilizers, are removed.
Peskov rejected the suggestion that Moscow is to blame for the current global food crisis.
“The loss of Ukrainian grain and Russian grain may be one of the factors, but not the decisive one,” he said.
Ukraine normally supplies about 45 million metric tons of grain to the global market every year and is the world’s top exporter of sunflower oil. Together with Russia, it accounted for about one-quarter of global wheat exports in 2019.
The current grain deal, which permits the safe export of Ukrainian grain through the countries' Black Sea ports, was renewed for 60 days in March and is set to expire on May 18.
Key background: A Black Sea grain deal has enabled the passage of Ukrainian ships carrying the agriculture products to depart the country, which was a challenge in the early days of the war with Russia preventing the ships from leaving.
Turkey, alongside the United Nations, helped broker the deal in July. The agreement established a procedure that guaranteed the safety of ships carrying Ukrainian grain, fertilizer and other foodstuffs through a humanitarian corridor in the Black Sea.
Under the deal, all vessels coming to and from Ukraine’s ports were inspected and monitored by international teams made up of officials from Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the UN.
Source: CNN
