INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Negotiations underway to unblock exports of fertilizer from Russia have made "important steps forward," one of the main United Nations
negotiators said on Thursday, while acknowledging that there was still a way to go
Russian grain and fertilizer exports continue to face issues over sanctions imposed after the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine, despite two
22 that called for sanctions to spare agriculture-related products and grant safe passage for Ukrainian grain exports.The second of those
agreements, brokered by Turkey and the UN, has been working quite well, allowing millions of tonnes of grain to leave Ukrainian ports, and
Russia briefly exited it last week over a drone attack on its Black Sea Fleet in Crimea
The deadline for the renewal of the deal is on Nov
19 and the Kremlin said on Thursday that it had yet to decide if it planned to continue its participation.But UN trade negotiator Rebeca
initiative."Grynspan also reported significant progress being made on a deal to allow Russian fertilizer exports to resume."We are working
very hard making that facilitation, [and] have concrete results," said Grynspan, who heads the UN's trade and development agency UNCTAD."We
have made important steps forward, but there is still a road to be traveled, especially with respect to the fertilizer crunch that we are
obstacles, but said "we have been clarifying and engaging with the EU, the U.S
to solve these problems."I think that we are making progress," she said, adding though that the negotiators had not made "all the progress
that I would want to see right now.""It is a difficult issue, it is a complex ecosystem," Grynspan added.
