U.S. 'Welcomes' Extension Of Grain Deal, Urges Russia To 'Fully Comply And Expand' It

Washington D.C./18.05.23/Turan:  The U.S. on Wednesday welcomed President Erdogan's announcement of the extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative and urged Russia to fully comply with and expand the deal so that food remains accessible and affordable for people across the globe, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

"We strongly support the U.N.'s and Türkiye’s efforts on the deal which keeps global food and grain prices low," State Department's Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel told a daily press briefing, adding, "But as Secretary Blinken has previously said, we should not need to remind Moscow every few weeks to keep their promises and to stop using people’s hunger as a weapon in their war against Ukraine."

The agreement, which established a humanitarian sea corridor for agricultural exports in July, was set to expire today. Nearly 1,000 ships have left Ukrainian ports for global destinations since last August, according to figures provided by the UN.

Asked by TURAN what, if anything, Washington was planning to do to secure the deal moving forward, Patel said, "we’ll continue to work every channel that we can in conjunction with the UN and our Turkish partners to make sure that it’s extended for as long as it’s needed."

In the meantime, he went on to conclude, "We’ll also continue to take steps to hold the Russian Federation accountable when needed."

Alex Raufoglu