UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Monday that discussions about the future of the grain deal will resume at a technical level in the coming days.
"These will be talks of technical delegations, which, in principle, have been underway since the mechanism start," the source said.
"There are no encouraging prospects at the moment," the source said when asked about the prospects for extending the grain deal.
He said the mechanism should not stop.
"It's hard for me to say what will happen tomorrow. Perhaps progress will be made, but if we are talking about today, there are no [prospects]. But we all want and are determined to ensure that the work of the mechanism does not stop," the source said.
Russia, Ukraine, Turkiye and the UN reached an agreement on July 22, 2022 to provide a humanitarian maritime corridor for ships carrying food and fertilizer exports from Ukrainian Black Sea ports. On March 18, 2023, Russia extended the deal for 60 days, until May 18.
The Black Sea Grain Initiative is an integral part of a package agreement. The second part - the Russia-UN memorandum, designed for three years - envisions the unblocking of Russian exports of food and fertilizers, the reconnection of the Russian Agricultural Bank to SWIFT, the resumption of supplies of agricultural machinery, spare parts and services, the restoration of the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline and a number of other measures. Moscow says this part of the package agreement has not been implemented yet.