Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on March 18 that Russia had agreed to extend the grain deal for only 60 days.
“We see reports from the parties that the deal has been extended for 120 days, we have repeatedly stated – both the Foreign Ministry and Russia’s representatives to the UN – that the Russian side <...> is extending the deal for 60 days,” she cites words “RIA News”.
Zakharova also noted that all participants in the grain deal received not only verbal notices, but also special notes.
On March 18, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the extension of the grain deal during a speech in the city of Canakkale. He noted that the prolongation was achieved through negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.
Later, his words were confirmed in an official comment by the representative of the UN Secretary General Stephane Dujarric. However, he did not specify for how long the agreement was extended.
On March 17, Kyiv’s permanent representative to the UN, Serhiy Kyslitsa, said that the Ukrainian side calls for extending the grain deal to the ports of the Mykolaiv region, as well as extending the agreement for the originally agreed 120 days or for an indefinite period.
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the same day that the Russian side had seen fit to extend the grain deal for 60 days instead of 120.
The food deal was concluded on July 22, 2022 in Istanbul. Then Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and UN Secretary General António Guterres signed a memorandum on facilitating the supply of agricultural products and fertilizers from Russia to world markets. At the same time, the Ukrainian delegation signed an agreement with Turkey and the UN on the export of grain.
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