The Ukrainian authorities began to negotiate online with their Western counterparts to extend the grain deal. This was reported by Reuters on Tuesday, citing Ukrainian government sources, TASS writes.
Ukraine is not directly discussing the extension of food export agreements with Russia. Instead, Kyiv’s Western partners are participating in discussions with Moscow.
Agreements on the export of food from Ukraine were concluded on July 22, 2022 in Istanbul for 120 days. One of the agreements regulates the procedure for the export of grain from the ports of Odessa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny controlled by Kyiv. Created by Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the UN, the Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul is designed to inspect ships with grain in order to prevent smuggling of weapons and exclude provocations.
In addition, a memorandum was signed between the Russian Federation and the UN, which implies the obligations of the world organization to remove various restrictions on the export of Russian agricultural products and fertilizers to world markets. In November, the grain deal was extended for another 120 days and expires on March 18.
