Grain deal. Turkey announces talks with Ukraine and Russia delegations on May 5

The deputy defense ministers of Ukraine, Turkey and Russia will hold a meeting on the grain deal on May 5 in Istanbul. This was stated by Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, CNN Turk reports.

According to the Turkish official, the parties are ready to extend the agreement.

“We hope that the grain deal will continue without interruption. Because this agreement is very important for regional peace and stability, as well as for countries that need it. In this context, we can say that the parties are ready to extend the deadline. We want to continue this initiative without any problems,” Akar said.

As a reminder, on March 18, Ukraine’s Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said that the grain agreement, which aims to guarantee the safe passage of ships from Ukrainian Black Sea ports to export food, had been extended for another 120 days.

However, the Russian Foreign Ministry claims that the country has only agreed to extend the initiative for 60 days. Moscow has threatened to withdraw from the agreement if a number of conditions are not met. These included unblocking the foreign assets and accounts of Russian companies related to food and fertilizers, as well as resuming the supply of agricultural machinery, spare parts, and service.

Reuters quoted a Ukrainian official as saying that negotiations on the grain deal would take place on May 3.

Tags: Ukraine, Russia, Turkey