The Russian proposal to extend the agreement on the export of Ukrainian grain by only 60 days was not convincing. The day after the announcement, consultations continue in Geneva on Tuesday. "The United Nations will do everything possible to preserve the integrity of the agreement and ensure its continuity," said Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the UN humanitarian agency (OCHA), whose boss, Martin Griffiths, is at the heart of the negotiations.

"Consultations with all parties are continuing at all levels," he said, without being able to say what will happen when the agreement, already extended by 18 days in the autumn, expires on March 120. "We will see on Saturday, what happens on Saturday," he said, pressed for questions by journalists in Geneva.

60 days instead of 120

After talks on Monday, Moscow said it did not oppose the extension of the agreement but only for 60 days. For Russia, this proposal represents a gesture of goodwill. However, 120 days are provided for in the document accepted last summer by Russia and Ukraine and whose implementation is guaranteed by the UN and Turkey.

Ukraine immediately criticized the Russian announcement, saying that "the agreement on the 'Black Sea Grain Initiative' implies at least 120 days of extension" and that "Russia's position to extend it by only 60 days therefore contradicts the document signed by Turkey and the UN." Kiev is now waiting for the "official position" of the United Nations and Ankara as "guarantors of the initiative". In a statement Monday evening, the UN had already expressed its concern to preserve the agreement and indicated that it "took note" of the Russian position.

The issue of Russian fertilizers

The Russians are not satisfied with the results of a second agreement that was concluded in parallel last summer with the United Nations and which was supposed to remove obstacles on their own exports of cereals and especially fertilizers. Although these products are not hit by the sanctions imposed by Kiev's allies to force Moscow to stop the invasion of Ukraine, the financial measures have had the indirect effect of deterring operations by intermediaries fearing retaliatory measures in the United States and Europe.

On Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov put the dots back on the i's. "It is obvious that basically (...) the second part of the agreement that concerns us has not been applied so far," he charged, and to designate the culprits: "We appreciate the efforts of the UN, of its Secretary-General himself (...). But Mr. [Antonio] Guterres has failed to break through the wall erected by the collective West."


The main sticking points for Moscow include: "bank payments, transport logistics, insurance, the 'thawing' of financial activities and the supply of ammonia via the 'Togliatti-Odessa' pipeline," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin said.

  • War in Ukraine
  • World
  • Russia
  • Cereals