OUR Russia announced today that a meeting on the Ukrainian grain export agreement, which expires March 18, will be held in Geneva next Monday. On Monday, Moscow called negotiations to extend its agreement “difficult.”

“Following consultations are planned to be held on March 13 in Geneva with the participation of the interdepartmental Russian commission” and “UN representatives,” said a representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry. Maria Zakharova.

These discussions will be attended by UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths and secretary general of the UN Conference on Trade and Development Rebecca Greenspan, the spokesman said. “The agreement will be discussed,” Zakharova added laconically.

Former Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrovstated that “if the agreement is half-fulfilled, then the issue of its extension will become even more difficult”, insisting that the conditions that should be beneficial to Russia are “not being met”.

The “Black Sea Grain Initiative”, as the agreement on the export of Ukrainian grain from Ukrainian ports is officially called, was reached on July 22, 2022 and helped mitigate the global food crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine;. It was extended in mid-November for four months and expires on March 18.

OUR Ukraine on Tuesday called for efforts to keep sea lanes open, and US Secretary of State Anton Blinken urged Russia to renew the agreement at the G20 summit in early March.

Moscow is protesting because it believes that the part of the agreement that will allow it to export fertilizer is not being fully respected. “Our Western colleagues, the US, the EU, passively declare that there are no sanctions on food and fertilizers, but this is not an honest attitude. The sanctions prohibit Russian ships carrying grain and fertilizers from mooring, and prohibit foreign ships from entering Russian ports to receive cargo,” Lavrov said.

Source: APE-MPE-AFP-Reuters