The dialogue continues on an extension of the deal facilitating Ukrainian agricultural exports through the Black Sea ahead of a deadline later this week, the United Nations and Türkiye said Tuesday, after Kyiv rejected a Russian push for a reduced 60-day renewal.
Last July, the Black Sea grain initiative, brokered by Türkiye and the U.N., aimed to prevent a global food crisis by allowing Ukrainian grain blockaded by Russia's invasion to be safely exported from three ports.
Some 22 million tons of grain and other food products have been exported from Ukrainian ports, helping to lower global food prices from record highs.
Russia on Monday suggested allowing the deal to be renewed for 60 days, half the term of the previous renewal, while the U.N. pledged to do everything possible to ensure the agreement's integrity remained intact.
On Tuesday, the Tass news agency cited Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko as saying that a deal had been agreed upon for a 60-day extension.
"Indeed, the deal has been extended – it has been agreed that it has been extended for 60 days," Grushko said.
Türkiye said that Moscow had agreed to back a 60-day extension to the deal, but that talks continued.
Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and the relevant authorities continue to negotiate and coordinate to carry on with the grain deal's activities and extend it following the agreement, with demands of the parties taken into account, a statement by Türkiye's Defense Ministry said.
"In these talks, the parties are reminded of the importance of continuing this initiative, which has a positive impact on humanity around the world and proves that all crises can be resolved with goodwill and dialogue," it read.
Contradictions
A U.N. spokesperson said "informal dialogue" between the organization and parties to the deal continued, though in-person talks with Russia had ended in Geneva.
Ukraine said a 60-day extension "contradicts" the original agreement and would stick to the terms of the previously agreed deal based on a 120-day duration that can be renewed.
"We will follow the agreement strictly," a senior Ukrainian government official told Reuters. The official declined to be identified.
"The United Nations will do everything possible to preserve the integrity of the agreement and ensure its continuity," Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told reporters.
"The consultations ... with all parties and various levels continue."
Laerke, meanwhile, stressed the importance of renewing the agreement.
"It is a good agreement ... It has a very good impact on global food prices, bringing them down, getting food out on the market and to the right places," he said.
"So that is the prize we keep our eyes on, and consultations continue with that in mind."
Deal 'can't stand on one leg'
Russia said on Tuesday it had agreed out of "goodwill" to extend the initiative, but a vital part of the agreement was still not being implemented to Moscow's satisfaction.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov criticized the West for not doing enough to remove obstacles to Russia's agricultural and fertilizer exports and said contacts over the deal would continue.
Asked why Russia had extended the deal for 60 days – as opposed to the 120-day extension period set out in the agreement – Peskov said Moscow's decision was "a gesture of goodwill ... in the hope that after such a long time, the obligations that have been assumed will be fulfilled."
He added: "It is obvious that the second part of the deal, which concerns us, has not yet been fulfilled ... The deal cannot stand on (only) one leg."
Russia says Western countries committed to lifting restrictions that hamper Russia's own agricultural and fertilizer exports but have not met those commitments.
"We appreciate the efforts that have been made by the United Nations, including personally by the secretary-general," Peskov said Tuesday.
"But, despite this, unfortunately, Mr. (Antonio) Guterres has failed to break through the collective West's wall. The conditions agreed upon as an integral part of the deal have not been fulfilled."
Western sanctions do not directly target Russia's agricultural sector, but Moscow says measures against Russian insurers, logistics companies, ships and banks act as a de facto block on Russia's exports.