Russia undecided on Ukraine grain deal extension, says a 'lot of answered questions remain'

The Russian government said on Tuesday that it has still not decided if Moscow will extend a UN and Turkey-brokered grain export deal with Ukraine.

The deal is due to expire on May 18.

“There are a lot of unanswered questions regarding our part of the deal … now we have to make a decision,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

The Russia-Ukraine war has triggered food insecurities across the globe as both countries are major grain exporters. Russian warships have blocked most of the Ukrainian ports, giving rise to a global food crisis.

The agreement between Russia and Ukraine was signed in July 2022 allowing grain ports in Ukraine to restart exports.

Russia has however repeatedly threatened to withdraw from the deal, claiming that obstacles remain to its own food exports.

Moscow says the problems stem from secondary effects of Western penalties on shipping and insurance companies as well as banks.

During recent talks in Istanbul, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said: “we are heading toward an agreement on the extension of the grain deal”.

Russia has laid out a list of conditions for it to agree to an extension, including allowing the Russian Agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank) to reconnect to the Swift payment system.

Supplies of agricultural machinery, spare parts and services also have to be resumed, and obstacles to granting Russian vessels insurance and access to foreign ports must be lifted, it says.

Moscow’s conditions also include the resumption of ammonia exports for fertilisers through a major pipeline that goes through Ukraine.

With inputs from agencies

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