The UN suggested Ukraine, Russia and Turkey to start preparatory work for resuming the transit of Russian ammonia through Ukraine. In parallel with this, negotiations on the expansion of the "grain agreement" should begin.
Reuters writes about this with reference to its own sources.
The ammonia pipeline "Togliatti — Odesa" has not been operating since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. Russia sets a condition for the resumption of ammonia transit for the continuation of the "grain agreement". The UN wants more Ukrainian ports to be added to the "grain agreement" and to allow the export of not only agricultural products.
Ukraine and Turkey have previously agreed to such a proposal, but Russia has not yet responded.
According to the Ukrainian authorities, workers need about 30 days to prepare the pipeline for ammonia transit.
- Before the start of the war in Ukraine, Russia exported 4.4 million tons of ammonia per year, which is 20% of world trade by sea transport.
- The United Nations proposed resuming the export of Russian ammonia through a pipeline to the Ukrainian border, where it is to be bought by the American commodity trader Trammo.
- On September 16, 2022, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that he would support the resumption of Russian ammonia exports through Ukraine if Moscow returned Ukrainian prisoners of war to Kyiv. "I am against the supply of ammonia from the Russian Federation through our territory. I would do it only in exchange for our prisoners. This is what I proposed to the UN," the president noted.
- According to Reuters, in November of last year, representatives of Russia and Ukraine met in the United Arab Emirates to discuss the possibility of exchanging prisoners of war and resuming the export of Russian ammonia through the Ukrainian pipeline.