He told the media about this after consultations with UN representatives in Geneva, RIA Novosti writes.
According to him, Moscow, noting the package nature of the Istanbul agreements proposed by UN Secretary General António Guterres, “does not object to another extension of the Black Sea initiative after the expiration of the second term on March 18, but only for 60 days.”
On March 12, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, commenting on the current situation with the grain deal, said that only the Ukrainian part of the deal is still being effectively implemented, Russian agricultural exports are being blocked by Western sanctions.
The Russian Foreign Ministry also stated that it was time for the United States and other Western countries to stop playing the food card and sabotage the grain deal: the lion's share of grain from Ukraine goes to the European Union at dumped fodder prices, and not to the poorest states.