Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey Mevlut Cavusoglu said today that Ankara is working hard to expand the initiative, which enjoys the support of the United Nations and allowed Ukraine to export grain from ports blocked by Russia after its invasion of the country.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative, implemented with the mediation of the UN and Turkey in July last year, made it possible to export grain from three Ukrainian ports. The deal was renewed in November and will expire on March 18 unless renewed again.

Russia said it was unhappy with some aspects of the deal.

“We are working hard for the smooth implementation and further extension of the Black Sea Grain Agreement,” Cavusoglu said in his speech at the United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries in Doha, Qatar.

OUR Russia announced that he agreed to extend the deal on Black Sea grain only when taking into account the interests of their own agricultural producers.

Today this position was confirmed by the representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova.

“If this agreement is equal, then we will always fulfill our part and are going to fulfill it in all agreements,” he said according to a TASS report, adding that Russia would be against “provocations and machinations.”

Russian agricultural exports are not specifically subject to Western sanctions, but Moscow says restrictions on its payments, logistics and insurance companies are a “barrier” to its ability to export its own grains and fertilizers.

Cavusoglu also said he had discussed with UN Secretary General António Guterres efforts to extend the treaty. According to the Joint Focal Point in Turkey, which oversees the implementation of the agreement, as of March 3, about 23 million tons of grain and other food products have been exported under the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

Source: APE-MPE and Reuters.