The extension of the UN- and Türkiye-mediated agreement on exporting Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea is a gesture of goodwill by Russia, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov has said.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Aleksandr Grushko confirmed that Moscow agreed to renew the deal but for just 60 days, as it remains unhappy with the failure to secure the lifting of Western restrictions on Russian food and fertilizer trade. The agreement was set to expire on March 18.
“As you understand, the deal can’t stand on one leg. Therefore, the conditions for the extension are, of course, quite relative,” Peskov told journalists about the prolongation.
“This is, of course, a kind of a gesture of goodwill on the part of Russia in the hope that – after such a long time – the conditions and obligations that were taken on by the well-known parties will be fulfilled,” he said.
Moscow values the efforts by the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who vouched to achieve the removal of sanctions on Russian food and fertilizer imposed over the conflict in Ukraine, the press secretary pointed out.