BEIJING, March 16. /TASS/. China hopes that the package agreement on the transportation of grain through the Black Sea will continue to be effectively and comprehensively implemented, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a briefing on Thursday.
"The package agreement on the transportation of grain through the Black Sea is an important agreement reached by the United Nations, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine after several rounds of negotiations. China hopes that the agreement will continue to be implemented in a balanced, comprehensive and effective manner," Wang Wenbin said in reply to a TASS request to comment on the extension of the grain deal.
He pointed out that China was ready to strengthen international cooperation to ensure global food security.
The agreements on the export of food from Ukraine were concluded on July 22 for a period of 120 days. One of the agreements regulating grain exports from the Kiev-controlled ports of Odessa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny. The other deal inked between Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the UN provides for the establishment of a four-party coordination center whose representatives inspect grain ships in order to prevent arms smuggling and false flag operations. Additionally, Russia and the UN signed a memorandum, under which the organization was supposed to engage in efforts to lift anti-Russian restrictions preventing the export of agricultural products and fertilizers. The Russian side pointed out that the second part of the agreement was not being implemented.
On Monday, consultations were held in Geneva between Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Rebeca Grynspan, UN Under-Secretary-General Martin Griffiths, and a Russian delegation led by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin. Following the meeting, the Russian diplomat told reporters that Moscow was not opposed to extending the deal after it expires on March 18, though not for 120 days, as in November 2022, but for a shortened period of just 60 days. This, he said, would be enough time to carry out an objective analysis of whether the UN has delivered on its promises to have Russian food and fertilizer exports to the global market unblocked.