Türkiye, Russia, Ukraine and the U.N. failed to come to an agreement to allow new vessels to transport grain exports as part of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, the U.N.'s spokesman Farhan Haq said Friday.
He noted that the aforementioned parties continued to inspect previously authorized ships.
The global body also urged all parties to continue their discussions on the continuation of the Black Sea grain deal in the meeting in Istanbul.
"We urge all parties to continue their discussions, overcome operational challenges and work towards the full implementation and continuation of the initiative," Haq said.
Technical personnel from Türkiye, Russia, Ukraine and the U.N. met in Istanbul on Friday to discuss the Black Sea grain deal.
"Today, what we have is a technical meeting that the Government of Türkiye's convened. So but we'll see down the line, but our expectation is next week there will be a senior-level meeting taking place," Haq said.
The U.N. spokesperson said the Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul has not reached an agreement on Friday to authorize new vessels to participate in the Black Sea initiative.
"The JCC continues its daily inspection work on the previously authorized vessels," he continued.
Speaking as a guest speaker at the daily press briefing, Maximo Torero, Chief Economist of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said the Black Sea grain deal has played a significant role since it was signed because it "increased the availability of cereals to the world" and allowed "prices to fall."
The pace of shipments from Ukraine under the U.N.-backed initiative has slowed as concerns grow over ships getting stuck if a deal is not renewed later this month.
Russia, which is one of the key parties involved, said it will keep talking although Moscow has threatened to quit on May 18, which has created more uncertainty for traders and shipping companies trying to plan ahead.
Under the accord, Ukraine has been able to export some 29.5 million tons of agricultural products, including 14.9 million tons of corn and 8.1 million tons of wheat.
However, the number of ships coming in to pick up cargoes has dropped this week to two vessels a day from three to four ships on average daily in the past three weeks, data from the agreement's joint coordination center suggested.
The deputy defense ministers of Russia, Ukraine and Türkiye are expected to hold another meeting next week, as Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said that Ankara continues its efforts for further extension of the deal that will expire on May 18.
Last month, Russia said that the current situation "does not favor " an extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative as a deadline loomed.
Türkiye, the U.N., Russia, and Ukraine signed a deal in Istanbul last July to resume grain exports from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports, which were paused after the Russia-Ukraine war began in February 2022, exacerbating global food insecurity.
A coordination center or Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) was set up in Istanbul to oversee shipments with officials from the three countries and the U.N.
