Türkiye believes that a deal allowing Ukrainian grain to be exported via the Black Sea will be extended from its current deadline, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Sunday.
Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year saw Ukraine's Black Sea ports blocked by warships until a deal signed in July allowed for the safe passage of exports of critical grain supplies.
The Black Sea Grain Initiative (BSGI), brokered by the U.N. and Türkiye last July, aimed to prevent a global food crisis by allowing Ukrainian grain to be safely exported from three ports.
The deal was extended for 120 days in November and will renew on March 18 if no party objects. However, Moscow has already signalled it will only agree to an extension if restrictions affecting its own exports are lifted.
Türkiye has said previously that it is working hard to extend the deal.
"In separate talks with the Russian and Ukrainian sides, we saw that both sides are approaching this positively. We believe it will conclude positively," Akar told an interview with Anadolu Agency (AA).
"We have the opinion that the duration will be extended on March 18," he added.
Russia's agricultural exports have not been explicitly targeted by the West, but Moscow says sanctions on its payments, logistics and insurance industries are a barrier to it being able to export its own grains and fertilizers.
Russia has complained that Ukrainian grain exported under the deal is going to wealthy countries. Ukraine and Russia are both major global suppliers of grains and fertilizers.
Crucial talks
Meanwhile, Russia on Sunday said its representatives had not yet taken part in negotiations on extending the agreement.
"There have been no negotiations on this subject, especially with the participation of Russian representatives," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said.
The next round of talks on extending the pact is due to be held in Geneva on Monday between Russia's delegation and top United Nations trade official Rebeca Grynspan, Zakharova said.
The U.N. has said the fate of millions rests on the initiative’s resumption, while Moscow cast doubt last week, saying the extension was becoming "complicated," claiming a parallel agreement on Russian exports was not being respected.
While the BSGI concerns the export of Ukrainian grain, the second agreement between Moscow and the U.N. aimed to facilitate the export of Russian food and fertilizers, which are exempt from Western sanctions imposed on Moscow.
"If the package is half fulfilled, then the issue of extension becomes quite complicated," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said last week.
Too much at stake
On Tuesday, U.N. chief Antonio Guterres said it was crucial to extend the deal, during a visit to Kyiv. Grynspan was in the Ukrainian capital on Wednesday for talks on the BSGI.
The U.N.'s Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) last week said the deal had allowed for greater consistency and predictability, helping to mitigate price shocks in the international market.
"The BSGI is one example of concrete action to navigate some of the worst cost-of-living crises the world has faced in a generation," it said Thursday, in a report on the deal's impact.
"The BSGI has yielded results that need to be scaled up. There is too much at stake and the situation is dire. Without the initiative, the lives of millions more are placed in a precarious position," it noted.
The renewal of the BSGI provides hope that the world's most vulnerable can make it through the crises. And every effort is needed to keep this hope alive."
Ukraine has so far exported nearly 24 million tons of foodstuff to those in need under the deal, Türkiye’s Akar said Sunday.
The BSGI accounted for 60% of total Ukrainian export volumes of corn, wheat and barley during the first four months of its operation, said the UNCTAD. Nearly half of the exports are corn and more than a quarter are wheat.
Around 45% of the exports went to developed countries. The biggest recipient was China, followed by Spain, Türkiye, Italy and the Netherlands.