Turkey, in coordination with the UN, is making efforts to extend the grain deal that expires on March 18. TRT reported this on Thursday, citing Turkish diplomatic sources.
"Turkey is making active efforts to extend the grain agreement for a new term, this work is carried out in close cooperation with the UN," the sources said. They added that "not all the difficulties Russia is facing have yet been resolved, so Turkey needs to act fairly and objectively." "We are making serious efforts, especially in terms of close coordination with the UN secretary-general's office and with him directly, to extend the grain agreement," the diplomatic sources said.
Arrangements for food exports from Ukraine were made last July 22 in Istanbul for 120 days. One of the agreements regulates the procedure for exporting grain from Kiev-controlled ports in Odessa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny. The Joint Coordination Center established by Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the UN in Istanbul is designed to inspect vessels with grain in order to prevent arms smuggling and exclude provocations. In addition, a memorandum was signed between Russia and the UN, which envisages obligations of the world organization to remove various restrictions on exports of Russian agricultural products and fertilizers to world markets. In November, the grain deal was extended for another 120 days; it expires on March 18.
On March 2, the Russian foreign ministry said that the grain deal was not working, with the West sabotaging the Russian part of the agreements. The ministry's statement referred to the 262,000 tons of Russian fertilizer that Russia had intended to donate to the poorest countries, but those shipments were blocked at the ports of Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and the Netherlands. The only consignment of fertilizers that has been sent is 20,000 tons to Malawi.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: $uraj tripathi/Pixabay
Based on materials from TASS