GENEVA, March 10. /TASS/. The United Nations confirms that consultation with Russia on the grain deal are planned to be held in Geneva on March 13, Catherine Huissoud, spokesperson for United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), told TASS on Friday.
"Yes, I confirm this information," she said. "The objective of the UN is to satisfy the expectations of all the parties to the deals that have been struck in July 2022 and to make sure that the course set over the past months continues."
"No media event is being planned," she added.
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a briefing on Thursday that the next rounds of consultations between Russia and the United Nations would be held in Geneva on March 13. According to Zakharova, they will involve a Russian inter-ministerial delegation, high-ranking UN officials, including UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths and Secretary-General of the UN Conference on Trade and Development Rebeca Grynspan.
A package of documents geared to resolve the problem of food and fertilizer supplies on global markets was signed on July 22, 2022 in Istanbul for a term of 120 days. One of the agreements regulated grain exports from the Kiev-controlled ports of Odessa, Chernomorsk, and Yuzhny. An agreement between Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Nations provided for the establishment of a four-side coordination center to search ships carrying grain to prevent weapons smuggling and avoid provocations. Along with that, Russia and the United Nations signed a memorandum envisaging that the UN will take steps to lift various restrictions on exports of Russian agricultural products and fertilizers on global market. The grain deal was extended from 120 days more in November. Its expiry date is March 18.