Turkey working hard to extend Grain deal: Turkish FM

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
5 Mar 2023 18:04

Russia, Ukraine, and Turkey signed an UN-brokered agreement on July 22 to establish a humanitarian maritime corridor for ships transporting food and fertilizer from Ukrainian Black Sea ports, which was called the Black Sea Grain Initiative and is generally known as the Grain Deal.

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu speaks at the opening session of the 5th United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5) in Doha, Qatar, March 5, 2023. (AFP)

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Sunday during the 5th UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5) in Qatar that Turkey is mobilizing considerable efforts into extending the Grain deal to ensure the smooth and uninterrupted exports of grains through the Black Sea corridor.

"We are working hard to ensure the smooth implementation and further extension of the grain deal. I discussed it with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres yesterday," Cavusoglu said during the conference while recalling that the initiative has assisted millions of households across the Global South and particularly the least developed countries by alleviating global food prices.

Russia, Ukraine, and Turkey signed an UN-brokered agreement on July 22 to establish a humanitarian maritime corridor for ships transporting food and fertilizer from Ukrainian Black Sea ports, which was called the Black Sea Grain Initiative and is generally known as the Grain Deal.

The current version of the deal is scheduled to expire on March 18 and will require the approval of the main parties consisting of Russia and Ukraine, in addition to Turkey and the United Nations who sponsored and secured the agreement.

Last Monday, Sputnik reported that the UN and Turkey are looking to extend the current grain deal with Russia by securing Western guarantees that Russian agri-products and ammonia will not be interrupted from accessing the markets.

"We want to get guarantees from Western countries that there will be no obstacles [on the output of Russian products and ammonia]. At the moment, there are obstacles in terms of logistics, insurance, and payment. We would like to receive reinforced guarantees from Western countries that would be made public. This, of course, will help the smooth operation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative," a source informed on the negotiation process said to Sputnik.

So far, no set dates have been discussed to extend the deal a source told Sputnik, noting that there are several options available.

"No, specific dates have not been discussed yet, there are various options. Now, a very complex process is underway, the discussion of the details of the further work mechanism," they said.

On Friday, Moscow accused the West of "burying" UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' humanitarian initiative by sabotaging the Russian part of the "package", commenting on the Istanbul agreements on food and fertilizers.

"We have to state that the 'package' of agreements proposed by Antonio Guterres and signed in Istanbul on July 22, 2022, does not work. The main problem is the sabotage of the implementation of the Russia-UN Memorandum by Western countries," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"It is obvious that the Americans and Europeans do not care about the countries in need and efforts of the UN, which they have long and stubbornly been trying to turn into an obedient tool for serving their political goals."

The Ministry emphasized that the food card should not be played.

The statement mentioned that a great share of Ukraine's grains goes to the European Union, as opposed to the poorest countries. Russian agricultural exports are openly obstructed, as opposed to what Europeans and Americans claimed. "The West shamelessly buries humanitarian 'package' of the UN Secretary-General."