Russia: 60-day extension of wartime grain deal acceptable

GENEVA — A Russian delegation at talks with senior U.N. officials said Monday that Moscow is ready to accept an extension to a grain export deal that has helped bring down global food prices amid the war in Ukraine — but only for 60 days as the Kremlin holds out for changes to how the arrangement is working.

The United Nations said it “notes” the Russian announcement and reaffirmed its support for the agreement struck in July as “part of the global response to the most severe cost-of-living crisis in a generation.”

The U.N. and Turkey brokered the deal between the warring countries that allows Ukraine — one of the world’s key breadbaskets — to ship food and fertilizer from three of its Black Sea ports.

The 120-day agreement was renewed last November. That extension expires on Saturday, and another 120-day extension was on the table.

Ukraine charged that the Russian proposal to extend it only for 60 days goes against the deal, although the language of the agreement allows the parties to roll it over or “modify” it — as Russia did Monday.

The noncommittal U.N. response betrayed the world body’s inability to force hands. Russia can largely do what it wants to abide by or reject the deal, leaving the issue dangling for countries in the developing world, which benefit most.

“The U.N. Secretary-General has confirmed that the U.N. will do everything possible to preserve the integrity of the Black Sea Grain Initiative and ensure its continuity,” a U.N. statement said. It stressed that the deal had allowed the export of 24 million tons of grain and more than 1,600 trips by vessels through the Black Sea — with more than half the exports destined for developing countries.

In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price emphasized the need to extend the deal, describing it as a “critical instrument at a critical time.”

Moscow has voiced frustration that a parallel agreement has failed to fully open the door to Russian exports of grain and fertilizer through the Black Sea. Overall Russian wheat shipments were at or near record highs in November, December and January.