The pact on the export of Russian and Ukrainian seeds and grains expires this Monday with some prospect of renewal, although Russia, through the head of diplomacy Sergey Lavrov, said that the agreement is “dead”.
However, last Friday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan assured that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed with the extension of the Black Sea grains agreement, allowing Ukraine to export products, but did not give details.
The current extension of the agreement, signed in summer 2022 in Istanbul by Ukraine and Russia through the mediation of the UN and Turkey, ends this Monday and, in addition to Ukrainian grains, the document also covers the export of fertilizers and Russian food products. products.
Although Russia has not been caustic in this regard, it has repeatedly signaled that it does not intend to expand the so-called Black Sea Grain Initiative, arguing that, on the one hand, it has become a commercial rather than a humanitarian pact and, on the other hand, the Russian memorandum remains unfulfilled. .
Moscow has disputed restrictions on fertilizer and food exports, arguing that its agricultural sector is suffering from sanctions imposed by the West after the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Ahead of a new extension of the agreement, UN Secretary-General António Guterres sent a letter to Putin last week proposing to facilitate Russian exports of food and fertilizers, as well as Ukrainian grains.
“I hope that with this letter we will ensure the extension of the grain agreement through our joint efforts and the efforts of Russia,” Erdogan said, referring to Guterres’ letter.
Putin has not yet announced the decision and is limited to publicly indicating that Moscow is analyzing the situation.
Seeking to convince the Russian leadership, Guterres intends to remove obstacles to the export of Russian fertilizers – another segment of the July 2022 agreement that Moscow says is not respected – by “removing obstacles to the financial operations of Rosselkhozbank.”
According to the UN, since the entry into force of the agreement, about 33 million tons of grain have been shipped from the ports of southern Ukraine.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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