ISTANBUL, May 12. /TASS/. The meeting in Istanbul with the participation of representatives of Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the UN on the grain deal’s extension held on May 10-11 was positive, with the sides moving to extension of the agreements, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar told reporters on Friday.
"First results show that the meeting in Istanbul was positive. The process is moving toward extension of the grain deal," he said.
The Istanbul meeting also focused on safe return to Turkey of commercial vessels that are stuck in Ukrainian ports as Russia’s special military operation started, Akar added. "There are six our commercial vessels in Ukrainian ports. We have been told that a framework agreement has been reached on their safe return to homeland. We continue this work," he said.
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.
Russia was represented by a delegation headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin at the Istanbul meeting.
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.