Negotiations on the extension of the "Grain Initiative" will start in a week

The Deputy Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine, Yurii Vaskov, announced that negotiations on the extension of the agreement on the Black Sea Grain Corridor will begin in a week. He also expressed hope that "common sense will prevail" and the corridor will be expanded. Currently, the government official noted, Russia is under pressure not only to extend the corridor, but also to improve its operation.

"We see that the enemy is starting to put forward new conditions. We understand that it will be difficult, as it was in November 2022," the Deputy Minister added.

We will remind you that the "grain initiative", which has been operating since last year, is currently scheduled to run until March 19 of the current year.

It should be noted that the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths, emphasized that the implementation of the grain agreement should be extended beyond March 19.

"I hope and am actually sure that it will be continued," he emphasized.

We will remind that, as of February 15, 140 vessels were waiting for inspection by the joint coordination center in the Bosphorus, the vast majority of which have been waiting for more than a month.