MOSCOW, November 9. /TASS/. Whether Russia will extend the grain deal or not will depend on how the Russian part of the agreement is fulfilled before the deal expires, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing on Wednesday.
"The deal will depend on the implementation of its Russian component," the diplomat pointed out. Zakharova also stressed that there was still no progress on the Russian part of the deal. "Let me remind you, it was a package deal, that's how the UN Secretary General [Antonio Guterres] conceived it, that's how he saw it and, hopefully, still sees it. The US and the EU continue to create obstacles for our food and fertilizers, which still cannot reach global markets. We will take this into account when considering the advisability of extending the grain deal," she said.
Zakharova recalled that on November 2, Russia resumed its participation in the grain export deal after receiving written guarantees from Ukraine, mediated by Turkey, that the humanitarian corridor would not be used for military purposes. "We hope that [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky's regime will implement these guarantees better than the Minsk agreements," the diplomat pointed out.
On October 29, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that due to a terrorist act committed by the Kiev regime with the participation of British experts against the ships of the Black Sea Fleet and civilian vessels involved in the security of the grain corridor, the Russian side had suspended participation in the implementation of the agreements on the export of food from Ukrainian ports. On November 2, the Russian Defense Ministry said that Russia was returning to participation in the grain deal after receiving written guarantees from Kiev not to use the grain corridor for military actions against Moscow. The grain export deal is set to expire on November 19.