A Russian official said a historic agreement allowing Ukraine to export grain from Black Sea ports has been extended by 60 days, although Kiev has said it is sticking to the 120-day extension, while the UN and Turkey have said consultations are ongoing.

Since Russia and Ukraine signed the UN-backed Black Sea Grain Initiative in Turkey on July 22, millions of tons of grain and other products have been exported from Ukrainian ports.

Yesterday, Russia hinted that it would allow the agreement to be extended, but for half the period of the previous extension, while the UN pledged to do everything possible to keep the agreement in force.

“Indeed, the agreement has been extended – we agreed to extend it for 60 days,” Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Alexander Grushko said today, TASS reports.

Informal dialogue between the UN and the parties to the deal is ongoing, a UN spokesman said today, adding that live talks with Russia have already been completed. “Negotiations concluded yesterday as agreed, but consultations continue with all parties,” Martin Griffiths, a spokesman for the United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs, told Reuters by email.

Griffiths and Secretary General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Rebecca Grispan met yesterday in Geneva with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin, where he proposed a 60-day extension of the agreement. The agreement, which was extended by 120 days last November, runs until March 18.

It was not immediately clear how the agreement could be extended for half the duration of its previous extension. Turkey said negotiations were ongoing, while Ukraine said it would adhere to the terms of the agreement reached.

In a statement that talks were ongoing, the Turkish Defense Ministry said Russia had agreed to support a 60-day extension of the deal. Russia complains that while the West has not targeted exports of its agricultural products directly, sanctions on payments, transport and insurance companies prevent it from exporting its own grains and fertilizers.

Source: APE-MPE, Reuters, AFP.