Negotiations between representatives of Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the UN on the continuation of the "grain agreement" were completed in Istanbul. Agreements have not been reached, but there will be more meetings.
This is stated in the message of the Ministry of Defense of Turkey.
They said that the negotiations lasted two days. The parties will meet again to discuss the details of the continuation of the "grain agreement".
At the same time, all parties supported the proposal to remove merchant ships and crews stuck in Ukrainian ports after February 24, 2022. They agreed on a joint mechanism and coordination to carry out this evacuation.
- On May 8, Russia once again blocked the registration and inspection of ships bound for Ukrainian ports. In this way, it made the operation of the "grain agreement" impossible. At that time, 90 ships were waiting for inspection in the territorial waters of Turkey, of which 62 are ships that are going to be loaded.
- Prior to that, technical negotiations regarding the continuation of the "grain agreement" were held in Turkey, which were unsuccessful — the parties (Ukraine, Turkey, the UN and Russia) did not reach an agreement on the issue of the admission of new ships to transport grain from Ukraine.
- On April 26, Russia once again blocked the operation of the Black Sea "grain corridor", despite the fact that on March 13, 2023, after negotiations with UN representatives, the Russian side agreed to extend the "grain agreement", but only for 60 days. Then the Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Oleksandr Kubrakov said that such a position of Russia contradicts the agreement, because it can be extended by at least 120 days. Then Turkey, the UN and Ukraine announced that the agreement had been extended for exactly 120 days.