Ukraine Black Sea grain deal extended

A deal allowing the safe Black Sea export of Ukrainian grain has been renewed after it was set to expire on Saturday.

The United Nations and Turkey said the deal had been extended, but did not specify for how long.

Ukraine said it has been extended for 120 days. But Russia’s cooperation is needed and Moscow only agreed to renew the pact for 60 days.

“The Black Sea Grain Initiative, alongside the Memorandum of Understanding on promoting Russian food products and fertilizers to the world markets, are critical for global food security, especially for developing countries,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.

The pact was brokered with Russia and Ukraine by the United Nations and Turkey in July and renewed for a further 120 days in November.

The aim was to combat a global food crisis that was fueled in part by Russia’s Feb. 24, 2022, invasion of Ukraine and the Black Sea blockade.

Russia and Ukraine are key global suppliers of food commodities and Russia is also a top exporter of fertilizer.

Ukraine’s Agriculture Minister Mykola Solsky said Ukraine had supplied nearly 500,000 tonnes of wheat for U.N. aid programs, and insisted on Saturday that the Black Sea export pact had been extended for 120 days and was an opportunity to keep helping those in need and “save the world from hunger.”

To help persuade Russia to allow Ukraine to resume its Black Sea grain exports last year, a three-year deal was also struck in July in which the United Nations agreed to help Russia with its food and fertilizer exports.

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Western powers have imposed tough sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. While its food and fertilizer exports are not sanctioned, Moscow says restrictions on payments, logistics and insurance industries are a barrier to shipments.

Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said on Friday that the European Union, the United States and Britain now “have two months to exempt from their sanctions the entire chain of operations which accompany the Russian agricultural sector,” if they want the Ukraine Black Sea grain deal to continue.

Dujarric said on Saturday that the United Nations was strongly committed to implementing both the Ukraine Black Sea grain deal and the pact with Moscow and urged “all sides to redouble their efforts to implement them fully.”

Ukraine has so far exported nearly 25 million tonnes of mainly corn and wheat under the deal, according to the United Nations.

The top primary destinations for shipments have been China, Italy, Spain, Turkey and the Netherlands.

Zainab Sa’id