The last vessel departed from Ukraine. Does it mean the end of the Black Sea Grain Deal?

On May 17, 2023, the last vessel is to depart from a Ukrainian port under the deal that has enabled safe exports of Ukrainian grain over the Black Sea, said UN spokesperson.

Last week, officials from Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, and the UN met in Istanbul to discuss the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

"Contacts are going on at different levels. We're obviously in a delicate stage," said UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu underscored last week that he believed the deal could be extended by at least two more months.

Ukraine cannot rule out that the Grain Deal will terminate on May 18 and doesn’t plan any additional negotiations this week.

Olha Trofimtseva, ambassador at large at the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, said that Ukraine was receiving conflicting signals about the future of the deal, the extension of which was discussed at talks in Turkey last week.

"The situation overall (after talks) has not changed much, and we receive quite conflicting information about the grain deal and the possibility of its continuation. Russia's exit from the grain initiative is possible, but for everyone and primarily for the Russian side that will mean an escalation of the situation and they will complicate their future negotiation position for themselves," Olha Trofimtseva said.