>>18864944
Yes, was to run out on May 18th, Erodagan televised it was extended. I think it was notabled, might have been bread before last
Turkish President Erdogan Says Black Sea Grain Deal Extended for Two Months
Reuters May 17, 2023
ANKARA/UNITED NATIONS, May 17 (Reuters) – The Ukraine Black Sea grain deal has been extended for two more month, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday, one day before Russia could have quit the pact over obstacles to its grain and fertiliser exports.
The flow of ships through the corridor had been grinding to a halt during the last few days with the deal apparently set to expire on Thursday.
Earlier on Wednesday, the last remaining ship registered to travel through the corridor had left a Ukrainian port.
U.N. data showed that the DSM Capella had left the Ukrainian port of Chornomorsk carrying 30,000 tonnes of corn and was on its way to Turkey.
“The Black Sea grain corridor deal has been extended by two months with the efforts of Turkey,” Erdogan said in a televised speech, also thanking the Russian and Ukrainian leaders and U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres for their help.
A spokeswoman for Russia’s Foreign Ministry said they would be commenting later on the reported extension.
The United Nations and Turkey brokered the Black Sea deal for an initial 120 days in July last year to help tackle a global food crisis that has been aggravated by Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, one of the world’s leading grain exporters.
Moscow agreed to extend the Black Sea pact for a further 120 days in November, but then in March it agreed to a 60 day extension – until May 18 – unless a list of demands regarding its own agricultural exports was met.
‘OPEN QUESTIONS’
To convince Russia in July to allow Black Sea grain exports, the United Nations agreed at the same time to help Moscow with its own agricultural shipments for three years.
“There are still a lot of open questions regarding our part of the deal. Now a decision will have to be taken,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday.
Asked on Wednesday about how the talks were progressing, Peskov told a briefing he would not enter into “hypothetical discussions” on what Russia would do if the grain deal lapsed.
Senior officials from Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the U.N. met in Istanbul last week to discuss the Black Sea pact.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said last week he thought the deal could be extended for at least two more months.
While Russian exports of food and fertilizer are not subject to Western sanctions imposed following the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Moscow says restrictions on payments, logistics and insurance have amounted to a barrier to shipments.
The United States has rejected Russia’s complaints. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield said last week: “It is exporting grain and fertilizer at the same levels, if not higher, than before the full scale invasion.”
Officials from Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the U.N. make up a Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) in Istanbul, which implements the Black Sea export deal. They authorise and inspect ships. No new vessels have been authorised by the JCC since May 4.
Authorised ships are inspected by JCC officials near Turkey before traveling to a Ukrainian Black Sea port via a maritime humanitarian corridor to collect their cargo and return to Turkish waters for a final inspection.
In an excerpt of a letter seen by Reuters last month, Russia told its JCC counterparts that it would not approve any new vessels to take part in the Black Sea deal unless the transits would be done by May 18 – “the expected date of … closure”.
It said this was “to avoid commercial losses and prevent possible safety risks” after May 18.
Some 30.3 million tonnes of grain and foodstuffs has been exported from Ukraine under the Black Sea deal, including 625,000 tonnes in World Food Programme vessels for aid operations in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Yemen.
https://gcaptain.com/turkish-president-erdogan-says-black-sea-grain-deal-extended-for-two-months/
More sauce:
Turkey says Black Sea Grain deal extended for 60 days
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2023/05/17/turkey-erdogan-announces-black-sea-grain-deal-extension/9091684334717/
Black Sea Grain Initiative extended on deadline day
https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/03/1134762
US Unlikely To Sanction South Africa In Russia Weapons Dispute
Reuters May 14, 2023
May 14 (Reuters) – South African Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said his country had resolved a dispute with the U.S. over allegations that Pretoria supplied weapons to Russia, and South Africa is unlikely to face U.S. repercussions, Bloomberg News reported Godongwana said in an interview on Sunday.
“A number of actions were taken in order to ensure that our relationship with the US remains and that relationship should be normal and cordial,” the minister told Bloomberg in an interview in Cape Town on Sunday. “The Americans are not likely to respond with any anger tomorrow.”
U.S. Ambassador to South Africa Reuben Brigety said last week he was confident that a Russian ship had picked up weapons in South Africa in December, in a possible breach of Pretoria’s declared neutrality in the Ukraine conflict.
South Africa’s government denied the claims. After a meeting between Brigety and South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor on Friday, the ambassador “admitted that he crossed the line and apologized unreservedly,” a South African government statement said on Friday.
A finance ministry statement on Saturday said, “Action was taken long ago once this matter was brought to the attention of South African officials” when U.S. Secretary of Treasury Janet Yellen met with Godongwana in February.
When asked for comment, the U.S. State Department referred to a tweet by Brigety on Friday that said he had corrected “any misimpressions left by my public remarks.”
South Africa’s Finance Ministry did not respond to a request for comment on Sunday.
https://gcaptain.com/us-unlikely-to-sanction-south-africa-in-russia-weapons-dispute/