Russia said that the current situation "does not favor " an extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative as a deadline loomed.
"Despite the fact that so much time has passed, it has not yet been completed, it has not acquired a ‘package' dimension. The conditions that concerned us have not been implemented. Therefore, the circumstances so far are not in favor of an extension," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow on Tuesday.
Peskov argued that if the deal is not extended it will not be the cause of a potential global food crisis.
The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres presented a "way forward" on extending Ukrainian grain exports during a meeting with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in New York on Monday.
Guterres gave Lavrov a letter to President Vladimir Putin, outlining a proposed way forward aimed at the improvement, extension and expansion of the deal, a spokesperson for the Secretary-General said in a statement.
Türkiye, the U.N., Russia, and Ukraine signed a deal in Istanbul last July to resume grain exports from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports, which were paused after the Russia-Ukraine war began in February 2022, exacerbating global food insecurity.
A coordination center or Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) was set up in Istanbul to oversee shipments with officials from the three countries and the U.N.
