UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and his teams are working to extend and prolong for a year the agreement on the export of grain from Ukraine from the Black Sea, which is due to expire at the end of November.
“We’re trying to take the guesswork out of making sure people are saying publicly that ‘yes, this deal will be extended for another year, but we’re not there yet,’ the UN spokesperson said. , Stéphane Dujarric, adding that UN officials were also working to facilitate Russian grain and fertilizer exports.
UN officials are due to travel to Moscow in about a week to discuss these issues with senior Russian officials, Stéphane Dujarric told reporters.
“The Secretary-General and his team are engaged in intense contact on these issues. Antonio Guterres and his team are working hard to ensure that the Black Sea Grains Agreement is broadened and extended,” said the UN spokesperson.
“They are actively working to remove the remaining obstacles to facilitate the export of Russian grain and fertilizers,” he added.
Facilitating food and fertilizer shipments from Russia is a key part of the agreement brokered by the United Nations and Turkey on July 22, which also restarted grain and fertilizer shipments from Ukraine at sea. Black.
Russia criticized the deal, saying its exports were still hampered.
Moscow may oppose extending the deal allowing exports from Ukraine beyond the end of November.
Ukraine and Russia are both major world exporters of grain and fertilizer.
The UN believes that the agreement on Russian and Ukrainian exports was necessary to avoid a global food crisis.
(Report Michelle Nichols, French version Matthieu Protard)
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