Turkey Hosts Quadruple Talks on Grain Agreement

The Russian news agency reported Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin saying today, Tuesday, that "a quadruple meeting of high-level officials regarding the grain export agreement via Black Sea ports will be held in Istanbul on May 10 and 11." Moscow stated that it "will not extend the agreement allowing for grain exports from Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea beyond its expiration date of May 18 unless a list of demands to remove obstacles to the export of Russian grains and fertilizers is met." In turn, Ukrainian Minister of Agriculture Mykola Solsky noted that "his country has alternative ways to transport grain if the safe export agreement through Black Sea ports is not extended beyond May 18, and that Ukraine will not consider this a 'terrifying prospect'." The United Nations stated yesterday, Monday, that approximately 30 million metric tons of grain and foodstuffs have been exported from Ukraine so far under the Black Sea agreement, including nearly 600,000 metric tons of grain on vessels from the World Food Programme conducting relief operations in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Yemen.