Ukraine has started online talks with partners on extending the Black Sea Grain Initiative to ensure Kyiv can keep shipping grain to global markets, a senior Ukrainian government source said Tuesday.
The source said Ukraine had not held discussions with Russia, which blockaded Ukrainian Black Sea ports after its invasion last year. Still, it was Kyiv's understanding that its partners were talking to Moscow.
"The situation with negotiations is rather complicated. Now a lot depends not on us but on the partners," said the source, who spoke to Reuters anonymously.
Ukraine is a major global grain grower and exporter, but Russia's invasion has hit its exports.
The Black Sea Grain Initiative was brokered by the United Nations and Türkiye last July and was extended in November. Still, it will expire on March 18 unless an extension is agreed upon.
Yuriy Vaskov, Ukraine's deputy minister of restoration, told Reuters last month that Kyiv would ask all sides to start talks on extending the deal by at least one year and that Ukraine wanted the city of Mykolaiv's ports included.
Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said last week that Ankara was working hard to extend the initiative while Russia has signaled it is unhappy with aspects of the deal.
Moscow has said it will agree to extend the Black Sea grain deal only if the interests of its agricultural producers are taken into account.
Russia's agricultural exports have not been explicitly targeted by Western sanctions. Still, Moscow says restrictions on its payments, logistics, and insurance industries are a "barrier" to exporting grains and fertilizers.
Ukraine's grain exports are down 26.6% at 32.9 million tons in the 2022/23 season as of March 6, hit by a smaller harvest and logistical difficulties caused by Russia's invasion.
