Ankara: We Are Working to Extend the Black Sea Grain Export Agreement

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu emphasized today, Sunday, that Ankara is working diligently to extend the United Nations-supported initiative that allows Ukraine to export grain from Black Sea ports that have been blockaded by Russia since the invasion. The Black Sea Grain Initiative, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey last July, permitted the export of grain from three Ukrainian ports. The agreement was extended in November and will expire on March 18 if no extension is agreed upon. Çavuşoğlu stated in a speech at the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries in Doha, Qatar, "We are striving for a smooth implementation and further extension of the Black Sea Grain Agreement." He added that he discussed the efforts to extend the agreement with UN Secretary-General António Guterres. Last Wednesday, Russia stated it would only agree to extend the agreement if the interests of its agricultural producers were taken into account.