Russia signals end to Black Sea grain deal in July if demands not met

FILE PHOTO: An aerial view shows a tractor sowing corn seeds in a field near the village of Chaltyr in the Rostov region, Russia, May 5, 2023. REUTERS/Sergey Pivovarov

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia signaled on Thursday that if demands to improve its grain and fertilizer exports are not met then it will not extend beyond July 17 a deal allowing the safe wartime export of the same products from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports.

It made the same threat and demands in March. Moscow then agreed last week to renew for 60 days the Black Sea export pact - initially brokered by the United Nations and Turkey last July with Russia and Ukraine to try to ease a global good crisis aggravated by Moscow's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.