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Moscow confirmed its green light to the two-month extension of the agreement that allows the export of millions of tons of grain produced in Ukraine through the Black Sea. The announcement is given one day before the end of the agreement. Russia continues to demand that guarantees for the export of its agricultural products and fertilizers be met.
The agreement that began in July of last year to export Ukrainian grains in the middle of the war obtained the go-ahead from Moscow to be in place, for at least two more months.
“We confirm the statement of the President of Turkey (…), which offers the opportunity not by word, but by deed, to help guarantee food security, first of all, to the countries most in need,” said Maria Zajárova, spokeswoman of Foreign Affairs of Moscow.
The agreement was initially signed to ease the burden of the war on food prices around the world, and especially in resource-poor countries that often depend on Ukrainian and Russian grain, after the conflict blocked exports from both Ukraine and Russia. Russia, two of the main producers and exporters of cereals in the world.
The news has been interpreted by analysts cited by the EFE news agency as “a concession” by Vladimir Putin to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has made mediation in the war one of the pillars of his foreign policy. The validity of the agreement is a medal that he will be able to bring out for the second round on May 28, when his continuity at the head of Turkey is at stake.
“Thanks to the efforts of our country, the support of our Russian friends and the participation of our Ukrainian friends, it has been decided to extend the agreement on the grain corridor in the Black Sea for another two months,” Erdogan wrote on Twitter, before Zakharova’s confirmation.
The Turkish president also assured that his nation is also working to consolidate the pact beyond the extension and said that he hoped that a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine would be achieved, while thanking the Russian president for his “sincere support”. Vladimir Putin, the “constructive collaboration” of his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodímir Zelenski, and the “efforts” of the United Nations Secretary General, António Guterres.
Ukraine thanked Turkey and the UN for their mediation and obtaining “unblocking” for two months. She said that “almost 70 vessels are waiting in Turkish territorial waters, of which 90% are ready to supply the world with the products” of Ukrainian farmers.
Russia continues to ask for guarantees for its agricultural products and fertilizers
The agreement, reached in July 2022, determined that a corridor for the export of Ukrainian cereals could be opened without the merchant ships being attacked by the Russian fleet, which has blocked Ukrainian maritime traffic since the start of the war, in February 2022. last year. One of the Russian conditions is that these ships could not bring weapons into the country.
However, Moscow’s main demand – which was included in the agreement – is that kyiv’s allies should agree to limit the blockade on Russian agricultural and fertilizer exports. Russia says that this point has not been met and therefore it was in doubt until Wednesday that the Kremlin would renew the agreement and there are no guarantees that after the two months of extension the agreement will continue.
The pact has allowed to date the export of 30 million tons of agricultural products. Most of it is corn and a third part is wheat. The main recipients of the ships that set sail loaded with these products are China and Spain.
With Reuters and EFE