Status: 11/17/2022 9:14 am
Shortly before the deadline expired, the grain agreement between Ukraine and Russia was extended. Kiev’s Infrastructure Minister Kubrakov said the contract would be valid for 120 days. The UN and Turkey welcomed the move.
The grain agreement between Russia and Ukraine will be extended – by 120 days, as Ukrainian infrastructure minister Oleskandr Kubrakov announced on the online service Twitter. A Turkish government representative confirmed in Istanbul: The agreement, which would have expired on Saturday, will be continued “under the current conditions”.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also declared the information from Kyiv to be correct. Guterres said he welcomed the agreement. He added that the United Nations would work hard to remove obstacles to Russian food and fertilizer exports as well. The government in Moscow had insisted on this point.
Agreement allows export of grain
The deals brokered by the United Nations and Turkey this summer allow Ukrainian and Russian grain and fertilizers to be exported from Russia through a Black Sea corridor. As a result, Ukraine was able to export more than eleven million tons of grain.
Guterres had warned in advance that food prices would rise if the contracts were not renewed. The agreement is crucial to addressing the global food crisis created by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.