On Wednesday, negotiations between Russia, Ukraine, Turkiye, and the United Nations on extending the Black Sea grain deal will kick off in Istanbul and are expected to last two days, according to the Turkish Defense Ministry.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin will participate in the high-level talks on the grain deal.
Moreover, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will possibly also take part. May 11 is expected to be the key day of the talks.
The talks are expected to focus mainly on the start of implementation of the Russian part of the agreement under the overall grain deal framework, which provides for exports of agricultural products and fertilizers from Russia.
Previously, Moscow repeatedly stated that, if this part remains unfulfilled, the grain deal would not be extended.
Ankara earlier said Moscow’s demands are absolutely legitimate and should be fulfilled unquestionably.
Another important issue is reconnecting the Russian Agricultural Bank to SWIFT and lifting restrictions on banking and insurance guarantees. As Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu pointed out earlier, the extension of the grain deal would depend on taking these demands by Russia into consideration.
The Russian Foreign Ministry pointed out that any decision on extending the deal would depend on reconnecting the Russian Agricultural Bank to SWIFT; resuming supplies of agricultural equipment, spare parts, and maintenance service; lifting restrictions on insurance and re-insurance as well as the ban on port access; resuming the operation of the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline; and unblocking the foreign assets and accounts of Russian companies involved in producing and transporting food and fertilizers.
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