The “grain agreement” will expire on May 18. There will be no new negotiations this week

Author:
Liza Brovko
Date:

Ukraine is considering the option that the Black Sea Grain Initiative will end on May 18, as previous negotiations on its extension were unsuccessful, and there will be no new ones this week.

This is reported by Reuters with reference to the words of the ambassador on special assignments of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Olha Trofimtseva.

According to her, Ukraine received conflicting signals regarding the future of the "grain agreement" during the negotiations in Turkey.

Russia threatens to withdraw from the agreement on May 18 if its demands are not met, namely: permission to export Russian grain and fertilizers and reconnection of Rossilkhozbank to SWIFT.

Trofimtseva noted that Russiaʼs withdrawal from the agreement would mean an escalation of the situation primarily for the Russian side, and this would negatively affect their further negotiating position.