Russia said on Thursday that the landmark deal guaranteeing the safe export of grain from Ukrainian ports to the Black Sea was only half being implemented, raising doubts over whether it would allow an extension of the agreement that expires next week.
The agreement, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey last July, was intended to avert a global food crisis by allowing Ukrainian wheat blocked by the Russian attack to be safely exported from three Ukrainian ports.
It was extended for 120 days in November and will be renewed on March 18 if neither side objects. However, Moscow has signaled that it will agree to an extension only if restrictions affecting its exports are lifted.
Russia’s agricultural exports are not directly targeted by Western sanctions, but Moscow says sanctions on payment systems, logistics and insurance industries create obstacles to exporting its grain and chemical fertilizers.
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“There are still many questions about the final destination for most of the grain. And, of course, questions about the second part of the agreements are known to everyone,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Russia has complained that Ukrainian grain exported under the agreement goes to rich countries. “Part Two” refers to a memorandum of understanding with the UN that facilitates Russian exports of food and chemical fertilizers.
The agreement “must be extended”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff said the grain export deal is part of the country’s plan to end the war and should be extended indefinitely.
Andriy Yermak, quoted by Ukraine’s Interfax news agency, said any suggestion to end the grain export agreement amounted to “pressure on its mediators – Turkey and the UN”.
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“At least, it should be extended with the same deadline as before”, Mr. Yermak told reporters.
President Zelenskyy and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres held talks in Kiev on Wednesday to extend the agreement, which Guterres said was “critically important”.
There are no plans for direct talks between Mr Guterres and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin said.
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a press conference Thursday that what he called the “two parts” of the deal, securing Ukrainian grain exports and removing barriers to Russian exports, are “interrelated.”
“The first part is being implemented and we are fulfilling all our obligations in this regard together with our Turkish colleagues,” said Mr. Lavrov. “The second part is not being implemented at all.”
“If we are talking about an agreement, it is part of a package of agreements. You can only extend what is already being implemented, and if we have a half-hearted implementation, then the issue of extension becomes quite complicated,” Mr. Lavrov said.
The UN’s top trade official, Rebecca Grynspan, will discuss the wheat deal with senior Russian officials in Geneva next week.
According to the UN, Ukraine has so far exported more than 23 million tons of mostly corn and wheat under the agreement. The main destinations for these shipments were China, Spain, Turkey, Italy and the Netherlands.
“Ukrainian and Russian exports of food and chemical fertilizers are essential for global food security and food prices,” Mr Guterres said at a press conference on Wednesday.
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