Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to extend the agreement on the export of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Friday.
Ukraine and Russia, through Turkey, signed an agreement with the UN on July 22 of last year on the resumption of the export of Ukrainian agricultural goods to the Black Sea, which had been interrupted when Russia launched its repeated invasion of Ukraine on February 24. Without an extension, the contract would expire next week.
Erdogan told reporters that he spoke with Putin about this agreement and that Putin agrees to its extension. The Turkish president also said that he is preparing to receive Putin for a visit in August.
UN Secretary General António Guterres sent a letter to Putin this week about extending the agreement. In the letter, he indicated that he supports the removal of obstacles to the export of Russian fertilizers, which Moscow has repeatedly complained about.
Erdogan expressed his hope that with this letter and everyone’s joint efforts, it will be possible to achieve the extension of the “grain deal”.
Putin has previously repeatedly threatened not to extend this contract. On Thursday, he announced that none of the conditions set by Moscow for the agreement to work had been met.
The agreement has allowed Ukraine to ship more than 32 million tons of grain past Russian warships in the Black Sea. Much of this grain ended up in developing countries in Africa, the Middle East and elsewhere. If exports were to be blocked again, food prices could rise even further.
2023-07-14 20:01:20
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