The Russian position emphasizes the need to take into account the country’s interests during talks aimed at extending the agreement beyond May 18.
“The work continues,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, “our position is known…and consistent.”
“So let’s wait for the outcome of the negotiations,” he added.
The grain export deal across the Black Sea was reached in July, mediated by the United Nations and Turkey, to help tackle the global food crisis, exacerbated by Russia’s war in Ukraine , but Moscow complains about the obstacles facing its agricultural exports.
The UN said on Monday that about 30 million metric tons of grain and foodstuffs have been exported from Ukraine so far under the Black Sea deal, including nearly 600,000 metric tons of cereals on World Food Program ships carrying out relief operations in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia and Yemen.
And in case no agreement is reached, Ukraine’s Agriculture Minister said on Tuesday that his country has alternative ways to transport grain if an agreement for the safe export of grain through Black Sea ports is n was not extended beyond May 18, and that Ukraine will not view this as a “terrible possibility”.
“We do not see any horrible prospects for many reasons, Ukrainian farmers and traders have shown that they can do a lot, and many (export) routes can be opened,” said the Minister of Agriculture , quoting Minister Mykola Solsky.
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