MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th February, 2023) The G7 foreign ministers on Saturday reaffirmed the importance of continuing and expanding the Black Sea Grain Initiative and called on Moscow to accelerate inspections and operation pace to meet global demand.
"The G7 members ... reaffirmed the critical importance of continuing and expanding the Black Sea Grain Initiative and stressed the need for Russian authorities to increase the pace of inspections and operations to meet global demand," the statement read.
The G7 foreign ministers' summit took place on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, which will run until Sunday.
In July 2022, Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations struck a deal to provide a humanitarian maritime corridor for ships carrying food and fertilizers out of Ukrainian Black Sea ports. It is part of a UN- and Turkey-brokered package agreement that also includes a memorandum of understanding between Russia and the UN and unblocks exports of Russian grain and fertilizers in the Black Sea.
Last fall, the grain deal, originally scheduled to expire on November 19, was renewed for another 120 days and is now set to expire on March 18 if it is not renewed again. Moscow has criticized the UN for failing to fulfill its part of the deal on facilitating Russian agricultural exports to countries that need them.
