A week before the expiry of the agreement that allows Ukraine to export grain across the Black Sea, Russia is threatening not to extend it.
Moscow believes that the West has not met Russia’s conditions for an extension. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said this to his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan on Sunday.
The main Russian condition for extending the grain deal is that the West lifts sanctions that prevent Russia’s export of grain and fertilizers, according to the Russian foreign ministry.
The grain agreement concluded in 2022 between Russia and Ukraine, which was negotiated by Turkey and the UN, expires on July 17. The UN has called on all parties to extend the agreement to ensure global food security.
Transfer Ukrainian commanders Azov regiment
Lavrov and Fidan also discussed Turkey’s recent transfer of some Ukrainian commanders from the Azov regiment, which last year defended a steel factory in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol from Russian assault forces. That transfer caused anger in Moscow, but according to Lavrov, will not lead to less cooperation between Russia and Turkey.
The Azov commanders had been released in a prisoner exchange in September on the condition that they remain in Turkey until the end of the war. However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky brought them home on Saturday after a visit to Turkey on the condition that they will not rejoin the fighting.