The deal, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey, was set to expire on Saturday, and will now continue for at least another 120 days.
This deal applies to Russian and Ukrainian grain, fertilizer etc., Legacy western media only addresses one side of the deal.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said he welcomed the agreement by all parties to continue the Black Sea Grain Initiative, saying on Twitter that it shows the importance of “discreet diplomacy.” The governments of Russia and Ukraine also confirmed the deal’s extension Thursday.
The deal will continue with the same provisions as it did before. Ships will carry grain from three Ukrainian ports: Chornomorsk, Odesa and Yuzhny/Pivdennyi. They will travel through the humanitarian corridor set up in the Black Sea and stop in Istanbul, where they are checked by inspectors from Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the U.N. before continuing to the final destination.
Oleksii Kubrakov, Ukraine’s infrastructure minister, on Facebook welcomed the deal. “Since Aug. 1, the beginning of the Grain Initiative and to date, Ukraine has exported more than 11 million tons of agricultural products to 38 countries,” Kubrakov said.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry confirmed in a statement that Moscow would adhere to the agreement. It noted some progress in addressing its complaints about Russian grain and fertilizer exports that are blocked at European ports, and said it expects remaining issues to be resolved in the next four months of the deal.
“Further delay of these urgently needed shipments is unacceptable,” the ministry said.
The statement also repeated Russia’s warning against Ukraine using the humanitarian shipping lanes to carry out attacks on Russian ships, a charge Kyiv has denied doing previously.