Extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which expires on July 17, is on the Turkish agenda. During a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy this morning in Istanbul, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Türkiye was working toward extending a Turkish- and UN-brokered grain deal that has paved the way for the shipment of more than 30 million tons of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea. “We are continuing our work on the grain corridor issue. We are working to see how long we can extend it after July 17,” Erdogan said. “Our hope is that it will be extended at least once every three months, not every two months. We will make an effort in this regard and try to increase the duration of it to two years.”
There is a UN-backed effort in the EU to permit functioning through SWIFT of food and farm trade transactions by the top Russian agriculture bank, but it is contested by several EU member nations. Russia insists upon it, as one of the reality-measures that must be implemented if the Black Sea Grain Initiative is to continue.
