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Kremlin has nothing to say on grain deal’s extension, contacts underway — spokesman

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin told reporters following the talks between delegations of Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the UN in Istanbul on May 10-11 that the grain deal would lose effect unless Moscow received guarantees on implementation of its requirements by May 18

MOSCOW, May 12. /TASS/. The Russian side has nothing to report on the possible extension of the grain deal, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday, adding that contacts on the issue would continue.

"There is no information on that matter so far," he said when asked to comment on statements by Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar that the sides are moving toward extension of the agreements. "There is nothing to report so far. The work is underway, contacts are underway and they will continue," Peskov said.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin told reporters following the talks between delegations of Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the UN in Istanbul on May 10-11 that the grain deal would lose effect unless Moscow received guarantees on implementation of its requirements by May 18. They concern export of agriculture products and fertilizers, connecting Russian Agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank) back to SWIFT and a number of other issues.

A source familiar with the negotiations on the grain deal, which expires on May 18, told TASS earlier that it would be extended for another 60 days.

Agreements on the export of food and fertilizers from Ukraine to the international market were concluded on July 22, 2022, for 120 days and extended in November for the same period. One of the agreements regulates the order of grain supplies from the Kiev-controlled ports of Odessa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny. Moreover, a memorandum was inked by Russia and the UN on lifting export restrictions for Russian agricultural products and fertilizers to global markets. Moscow notes that the second part of the agreement is not being implemented. On March 18, 2023, Russia announced that the deal was extended for 60 days, warning that this would be enough time to assess the efficacy of the memorandum signed with the UN. The Russian side has repeatedly stressed that the future decision on extension of the deal depends on implementation of the Russian part of the agreement, adding that the lack of progress on that issue threatens the future of the initiative.

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