Russian President Vladimir Putin’s weekend meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has failed to revive the Black Sea grain deal. The UN-brokered agreement, which guaranteed safe passage for Ukrainian grain shipments to markets in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, had been on hold since July. Russia refused to extend the deal, citing a failure to honor a parallel agreement to remove obstacles to its food and fertilizer exports.On Monday, Putin reiterated this demand.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has warned that the outlook for extending a deal beyond 18 May that allows the safe wartime export of grain and fertilizer from several Ukrainian Black Sea ports was not great because Russia s own such exports still face obstacles
The Black Sea grain deal, which allows for the export of Ukrainian crops from Black Sea ports, must be extended at any cost, Executive Director of the UN World Food Programme (WFP) David Beasley said.
The United Nations cannot confirm that any direct talks are underway on a possible extension of the Black Sea grain deal, spokesperson for the Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Eri Kaneko told Sputnik.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Sierra Leone commends the decision to extend the grain deal for four more months, while stressing that sanctions should not target. 19.11.2022, Sputnik International