MOSCOW (RockedBuzz via Reuters) – A Russian official said on Tuesday that a landmark deal that allows Ukraine to export grain through its Black Sea ports has been extended by 60 days, though Kiev said it would stick to a 120-day extension. days.
Since Russia and Ukraine signed Turkey’s Black Sea Grains Initiative on July 22, millions of tons of grains and other food products have been exported from Ukrainian ports.
Russia on Monday suggested allowing the deal to be renewed, but for half the duration of the previous renewal, while the United Nations pledged to do everything possible to ensure the integrity of the deal remained intact.
“Indeed, the deal has been extended – it has been agreed that it has been extended for 60 days,” the TASS news agency said on Tuesday, quoting Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko.
It wasn’t immediately clear how the deal could be extended for half of the previous renewal.
The RIA news agency also quoted Grushko as saying the deal had been extended. According to RIA, Grushko quoted another Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergei Vershinin, in confirmation of the extension.
Ukraine will abide by the terms of the previously agreed deal, a senior Ukrainian government official told RockedBuzz via Reuters.
“We will strictly follow the agreement,” said the official, who declined to be named.
Russia said that while the West has not explicitly targeted the country’s agricultural exports, sanctions on its payments, logistics and insurance industries have created a barrier to exporting its grains and fertilizers.
(Reporting by RockedBuzz via Reuters; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Barbara Lewis)
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