By Pavel Polityuk
KYIV (Reuters) – Ukraine will stick to the terms of an agreement it signed last year on a 120-day extension of the Black Sea grain export initiative, a senior Ukrainian government official said on Tuesday.
“We will follow the agreement strictly,” the official, who declined to be named, told Reuters.
Russia’s TASS news agency cited Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko as saying the deal, which helps Ukraine export agricultural products following Russia’s invasion, had been extended on the previous conditions.
Grushko said the deal had been extended for 60 days. A Russian source said separately earlier on Tuesday that the 60-day extension meant that after 60 days one of the parties may raise the issue of the deal’s termination.
Ukraine, however, indicated that the July agreement clearly states that extensions are possible for a minimum of 120 days and the original agreement should be amended if parties want a shorten terms.
“The Russians realised that 60 days (extension) is not legally possible, so they are trying to find a way out,” the senior Ukrainian government official said.
The Black Sea Grain Initiative was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey last July and was extended in November.
Kyiv said it wanted to extend the deal by at least one year and that Ukraine wanted the city of Mykolaiv’s ports included.
Since Russia and Ukraine signed the deal in Turkey last July, millions of tonnes of grain and other food products have been exported from Ukrainian ports.
(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
