On May 5, Istanbul will discuss the extension of the "grain agreement"

As the Minister of National Defense of Turkey Hulusi Akar reported, a meeting at the level of deputy defense ministers of Turkey, Russia and Ukraine on the issue of extending the "grain agreement" is scheduled for Friday, May 5, in Istanbul.

According to Anadolu agency. the government official noted that Ankara continues efforts to eliminate the "risk" of a food crisis related to the war in Ukraine. He recalled that during a recent visit to Moscow, where a quadrilateral meeting on Syria was held, he held a separate meeting with his Russian counterpart Serhii Shoigu, and negotiations with the Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Oleksandr Kubrakov took place on April 18 in Kayseri.

"Both sides supported the Turkish side's proposal to hold a meeting on this issue at the level of deputy defense ministers on May 5 in Istanbul. It is planned to discuss a number of other issues. We hope that the "grain agreement" will be extended without any delay, because it is important not only for peace and stability in the region, but also from the point of view of covering the food needs of countries that need it," said Hulusi Akar.

It should be noted that the Russian side may disrupt the negotiations, during which all participants of the grain agreement planned to discuss the prospects for its continuation. As reported by a number of media, with reference to the statement of the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Sergey Lavrov, "the issue has not been agreed upon."Earlier, the press secretary of the Kremlin, Peskov, said that the grain agreement is allegedly not being implemented, so the probability of its continuation is "not very good." It will be recalled that in March the Ukrainian side announced the extension of the agreement for 120 days, while the Russian side reported that the agreement was extended for only 60 days.