The Black Sea grain initiative, brokered between Russia and Ukraine by the United Nations and Turkey last July, aimed to prevent a global food crisis by allowing Ukrainian grain blockaded by Russia’s invasion to be safely exported from three Ukrainian ports.
The deal, extended for 120 days in November, is up for renewal on Saturday. But Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin said after talks with U.N. officials in Geneva that Moscow was ready to extend the deal for only 60 days, citing restrictions on Russia agricultural exporters.
Russia, he said, “does not object to another extension of the ‘Black Sea Initiative’ after its second term expiration on March 18, but only for 60 days.”
“Our further stance will be determined upon tangible progress on normalization of our agricultural exports, not in words, but in deeds,” Vershinin added.
Russia has argued that, although the country’s agricultural exports have not been explicitly…
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