ISTANBUL- Parties to the Black Sea grain pact are nearing a deal to extend it after talks between Ukrainian, Russian, Turkish and United Nations officials, Turkey’s Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said.
Russia has threatened to quit the agreement on May 18 over obstacles to its grain and fertilizer exports and the four parties discussed UN proposals to extend the deal on Thursday.
“(The parties) are approaching an agreement on an extension of the grain agreement period,” Akar said in a statement released by the defense ministry on Friday.
Two days of talks in Istanbul had appeared to end without Russian agreement on an extension.
The UN and Turkey brokered the Black Sea agreement in July last year to help tackle a global food crisis that has been worsened by Moscow’s war in Ukraine. At the same time, the UN agreed to help Moscow facilitate its own agricultural shipments.
The Kremlin said early on Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin could speak with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan at short notice if needed regarding an extension of the deal, but that there were no such plans yet.
Akar also said he had been told that an agreement was reached on the return to Turkey of six Turkish merchant vessels currently in Ukrainian ports.
Russia has effectively stopped the Black sea grain deal by refusing to register incoming vessels, Ukraine’s reconstruction ministry said on Monday.
Ukrainian Black Sea ports were blockaded after Russia’s invasion last year, but access to three of them was cleared last July under a deal between Moscow and Kyiv that was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey.
“The Russian Federation once again effectively stopped the Grain Initiative by refusing to register incoming vessels and carry out their inspections. This approach contradicts the terms of the current agreement,” the ministry said in a statement.
It said that 90 ships, including 62 vessels for loading, were waiting in Turkey’s territorial waters for approval to go to Ukrainian ports.
The deal expires on May 18. Moscow has threatened to quit the agreement intended to help ease a global food crisis. Turkey and the United Nations are working to extend the deal. -Reuters
