The Russian proposal to extend the agreement on the export of Ukrainian cereals by only 60 days did not convince. Following this announcement, consultations continue in Geneva on Tuesday. “The United Nations will do everything possible to preserve the integrity of the agreement and ensure its continuity,” said Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the United Nations humanitarian agency (OCHA), whose boss, Martin Griffiths. , is at the heart of the negotiations.
“Consultations with all parties are continuing at all levels”, he stressed, without being able to say what will happen when the agreement expires on March 18, already extended from 120 days to autumn. “We will see on Saturday, what will happen on Saturday,” he said, pressed with questions by journalists in Geneva.
60 days instead of 120
After discussions on Monday, Moscow had indicated that it did not oppose the extension of the agreement but only for 60 days. For Russia, this proposal represents a gesture of goodwill. However, 120 days are provided for in the document accepted last summer by Russia and Ukraine and whose application is guaranteed by the UN and Turkey.
Ukraine immediately criticized the Russian announcement, saying that “the agreement on the ‘Black Sea Grain Initiative’ involves at least 120 days of extension” and that “Russia’s position to extend it by only 60 days therefore contradicts the document signed by Turkey and the UN”. kyiv is now awaiting the “official position” of the United Nations and Ankara as “guarantors of the initiative”. In a press release Monday evening, the UN had already expressed its concern to preserve the agreement and indicated that it “took note” of the Russian position.
The question of Russian fertilizers
The Russians are not satisfied with the results of a second agreement which was concluded in parallel last summer with the United Nations and which was to make it possible to remove obstacles on their own exports of cereals and especially of fertilizers. Although these products are not affected by the sanctions imposed by the allies of Kiev to force Moscow to stop the invasion of Ukraine, the financial measures have had the indirect effect of deterring operations by intermediaries fearing to fall under the retaliatory measures in the United States and Europe.
On Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dotted the i’s again. “It is obvious that on the whole (…) the second part of the agreement which concerns us has not been applied so far”, he accused, and to point out the culprits: “We appreciate the efforts of the UN, of its Secretary General in person (…). But. [Antonio] Guterres has failed to break through the wall erected by the collective West”.
The main stumbling blocks for Moscow include: “bank payments, transport logistics, insurance, the ‘unfreezing’ of financial activities and the supply of ammonia via the ‘Togliatti-Odessa’ pipeline”, detailed the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Verchinin.