The Russian Foreign Ministry said the renewal of the Ukraine grain deal would only be possible if its own agricultural exports are unblocked.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative, brokered by the United Nations and Türkiye last year, expires on March 18 and cannot be extended unless all parties agree. Russia has already signaled it is unhappy with aspects of the deal.

Russia's agricultural exports have not been explicitly targeted by Western sanctions, but Moscow says restrictions on its payments, logistics and insurance industries are a "barrier" to it being able to export its own grains and fertilizers.

Moscow's foreign ministry said Wednesday that Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had discussed the prospects for renewing the deal at a meeting with his Turkish counterpart on the sidelines of the G20 in New Delhi.

"(The) Russian side stressed that continuing the package agreement on grain is possible only if the interests of Russian agricultural and fertilizer producers in terms of unhindered access to world markets are taken into account," the ministry said in a statement.

Ukraine and Russia are both among the world’s largest grain producers and exporters. Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian ports following its invasion threatened to cause a global food crisis earlier this year, which was mitigated by the Turkish-brokered deal that unblocked Ukrainian shipments at the end of July.