United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv to discuss extending a deal with Moscow that allows the Black Sea export of Ukrainian grains amid Russia's war in the country on Wednesday.
"The Secretary-General has just arrived in Poland on his way to Ukraine," the U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Tuesday, adding that Guterres will discuss the continuation of the deal "in all its aspects and other pertinent issues."
The 120-day deal, initially brokered by the U.N. and Türkiye in July and extended in November, will be renewed on March 18 if no party objects. However, Russia has signaled that obstacles to its agricultural exports must be removed before it lets Ukraine's Black Sea grain deal continue.
To help convince Russia to allow Ukraine to resume Black Sea grain exports in July last year, a three-year deal was also struck in which the U.N. agreed to help facilitate Russian food and fertilizer exports.
Ukraine and Russia are both major global suppliers of grains and fertilizers.
Western powers hit Russia with tough sanctions over its invasion of neighboring Ukraine more than a year ago. While Russia's food and fertilizer exports are not subject to sanctions, Moscow says restrictions on its payments, logistics, and insurance industries are a "barrier" to such shipments.
Guterres is traveling with U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths and senior U.N. trade official Rebeca Grynspan. Griffiths led negotiations on the Ukraine Black Sea deal, while Grynspan is working to facilitate Russia's food and fertilizer exports.
Guterres is due back in New York on Thursday, Dujarric said. It is Guterres' third visit to Ukraine in the past year.
Ukraine has so far exported over 23 million tonnes of mainly corn and wheat under the deal, according to the U.N. The top primary destinations for shipments have been China, Spain, Türkiye, Italy and the Netherlands.
Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said last week that Ankara was working hard to extend the initiative while Russia has signaled it is unhappy with some aspects of the deal.
Moscow has said it will extend the Black Sea grain deal only if the interests of its agricultural producers are taken into account.
