ANKARA, November 7. /TASS/. Turkey plans to come out with an initiative to extend the grain deal, which expires on November 19, for one more year, Turkish National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Monday.
"Ukraine has given guarantees to Russia [not to use the Black Sea security corridor for military purposes] via Turkey. We will suggest the agreement be extended for one more year," he said.
The grain deal, in his words, is a "good example of how the parties can resolve some problems through talks." "Using this model, we sincerely hope that a way to a ceasefire and peace will be opened within days and that this conflict between the two countries, our Black Sea neighbors, will be ended peacefully," he added.
On November 2, Russia decided to resume its participation in the Ukraine grain deal after it received UN-and Turkey-brokered written guarantees from Ukraine that it would not use the security corridor in the Black Sea for military purposes. However, Moscow said it reserves the right to withdraw from the agreement if Kiev violates its guarantees.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday that Moscow is satisfied that Ukraine had signed security guarantees with Ankara’s mediation but it sees no results on the other part of the package of agreements concerning the removal of obstacles for Russian fertilizer and grain exports.