Earlier in the day, the Secretary-General of the UN Conference on Trade and Development, Rebeca Grynspan, and the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, met with a Russian delegation led by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Vershinin.
"It is anticipated that the first shipment of donated fertilizers will depart for Malawi in the coming week. The UN remains committed to address the global fertilizer market crunch where farmers, especially smallholder farmers from the developing world are priced out of production due to high inputs costs," the statement said.
Prior to that, David Beasley, the executive director of the World Food Programme, told Sputnik that all countries must cooperate in the implementation of the grain deal since the world needs Russian grain and fertilizers, whether other states "love or hate Russia,"
"This deal is crucial. Everybody has to cooperate, everybody has a role to play here. I don't care whether you love or hate Russia, we need Russian grain and fertilizer around the world. Otherwise a whole world will pay a price," he said on the sidelines of the Paris Peace Forum.
WFP is doing everything possible to ensure that the grain deal remain in force and be extended, Beasley added.