Ag officials in Ukraine are not hopeful after it appears negotiations surrounding the Black Sea grain deal have stalled.
Thursday is the deadline and Ukrainian officials say there are no more talks scheduled this week. At a recent press conference, ag officials there said they’ve been receiving conflicting signals about the future of the deal. The Kremlin has said it will back out unless sanctions placed last year are removed, specifically on their own grain and fertilizer exports.
According to Reuters, part of Russia’s demands include restarting an ammonia pipeline to the Black Sea port. That’s something the United Nations, who helped broker the original deal, has been pushing for.