Representatives of Kyiv, Moscow, along with the Turkish side, will discuss this issue in the coming days, Hulusi Akar said.
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar hopes to extend the grain agreement, which expires on May 18. According to him, representatives of Russia, Ukraine and Turkey at the level of deputy ministers will discuss this issue in coming days. He said this in an interview with Habertürk TV channel on Sunday, April 30.
“We are in constant contact with the Russian and Ukrainian sides. We agreed that in the coming days, representatives of Russia, Ukraine and Turkey at the level of deputy ministers will meet to discuss the issues related to the grain initiative,” he said.
The official assured that, according to the Turkish side, the grain agreement can “contribute to the solution of other issues, in particular, a ceasefire, the exchange of prisoners.”
The official also recalled that the issue of extending the grain agreement was discussed last week in telephone conversations between Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin.
The press secretary of the chairman of the ruling regime of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Peskov, said on Friday, April 28, that the agreements in Istanbul do not seem to have been implemented and that the prospects for extending the agreement “are not very good.”
According to Turkish media, Ankara will discuss this problem with UN, US and UK representatives in the coming days.
As you know, on July 22, 2022, a package of documents on supplying food and fertilizers to the international market was signed in Istanbul. Initially, the parties entered into agreements for 120 days, but in November of last year they were extended for the same period. On March 18 this year, Russia announced the extension of the agreement for 60 days, warning that this time is enough to assess the implementation of the memorandum signed at the UN.
It should be noted that, according to the adviser of the Office of the President, Mikhail Podolyak, the proposal of the Secretary General of the UN António Guterres to extend the agreement on the export of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea will succeed only in the event of collective pressure from in the international community in Russia.
Source: korrespondent
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