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United Nations (United States) (AFP) – The United Nations said on Wednesday “relatively optimistic” about the prospects of renewing an agreement that allows the export of grain from Ukrainian ports blocked by the war with Russia.
The “Black Sea Grains Initiative”, signed on July 22 under the auspices of the United Nations and agreed with Moscow and kyiv, runs until November 19.
A second agreement signed in parallel allows the export of Russian food and fertilizers despite Western sanctions imposed on Moscow for the invasion of Ukraine in February.
This agreement has allowed almost nine million tons of grain to leave those ports and alleviate the world food crisis caused by the Russian invasion.
But uncertainty over whether the pact will be renewed has already caused the prices of some food products to rise.
“We can’t wait to see this renewed soon. It’s important for the market. It’s important for continuity,” said Martin Griffiths, the UN’s top humanitarian official.
“And I remain relatively optimistic that we will get there,” he added.
The parties to the Black Sea deal are the United Nations, Ukraine, Russia and Turkey, but the main negotiators in the grain deal renewal talks are the UN and Moscow.
Griffiths recently traveled to Moscow with Rebeca Grynspan, secretary general of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
He said there is technically no need for a new agreement, but certain procedures need to be re-evaluated and streamlined.
“We are very interested not only in renewing that Black Sea operation for as long as the parties allow,” he added, but also in “removing impediments to Russian grain and fertilizer exports.”
Russia complains that even with the agreement it cannot sell these products due to sanctions against its financial and logistics sectors.
Griffiths said he had “very fruitful discussions” Tuesday in Washington.
