Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin discussed with his Turkish counterpart Burak Akcapar the implementation of package agreements under the grain deal, as well as the situation in Syria. This is stated in a statement of the Russian foreign ministry released on Tuesday following the conversation, held on April 3.
"The issues of implementation of package agreements concluded in Istanbul on July 22, 2022, - the Black Sea initiative on the export of Ukrainian food and the Russia-UN memorandum on the normalization of domestic agricultural exports were considered. It was noted that only full and faithful implementation of both agreements together would reduce threats to global food security and support the most vulnerable countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America," - said the ministry. - "Special attention was paid to the current situation in and around Syria."
As noted in the ministry, the parties emphasized the need to urgently mobilize comprehensive international humanitarian assistance to the victims of the devastating earthquake in the Syrian-Turkish border area on February 6. "The two sides stressed the importance of ensuring broad humanitarian access, providing assistance to all those in need without politicization, discrimination and preconditions," the diplomatic office added.
Agreements on food exports from Ukraine were made last July 22 in Istanbul for 120 days and were extended in November for the same period. One of the agreements regulates the procedure for the export of grain from Kiev-controlled ports in Odessa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhnyy. In addition, a memorandum between Russia and the UN was signed, which envisages obligations of the world organization to remove restrictions on exports of Russian fertilizers and agricultural products to world markets. Moscow points out that the second part of the agreement is not being implemented. On March 18, Russia announced a 60-day extension of the deal, warning that this would be enough time to assess the implementation of the memorandum with the UN.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from TASS