Kiev wants the Black Sea grain deal to be expanded to include more ports and commodities
Ukraine will let Russian ammonia pass through its territory only if the renewed Black Sea grain deal allows the country to ship other commodities from more ports, Reuters reported on Friday, citing government sources.
This is the first response by Kiev to Moscow’s demand to include ammonia shipments under the agreement.
In April, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov issued Moscow's demands that a pipeline built to deliver Russian ammonia to a Ukrainian Black Sea port be unblocked, and the financial operations of Russian fertilizer companies be derestricted.
The most recent grain deal includes three of Ukraine’s major Black Sea ports, although Kiev has repeatedly demanded that the agreement should cover more goods and ports. The government source, however, provided no details about the additional commodities Ukraine wanted included.
According to the source, the current version of the agreement made no mention of the ammonia pipeline and transit, and a further deal would be needed to cover it.
On Thursday, Russian officials said that the new agreement had been reached after what it called “a qualified result” in negotiations over easing restrictions on Russian agricultural exports.
The Black Sea grain deal between Russia and Ukraine was clinched through the mediation of the UN and Türkiye last July. It allowed Ukraine to ship around 30 million metric tons of corn, wheat, soy and other grain. As part of the agreement, the UN was supposed to facilitate the unblocking of Russian grain and fertilizer exports. According to Moscow, the latter never happened.
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