Extension of Grain Agreement by March 14: A Special Operation

Moscow, March 14 – Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said on Tuesday that the grain deal has been extended for 60 days, provided that all promises to lift sanctions on agricultural products made by partners to Russia are fulfilled.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin said in a press briefing in Geneva that Russia has not yet received an official response from the parties to its proposal to extend the grain deal for a period of 60 days. According to him, Russia decided to extend the grain deal for 60 days only due to the lack of progress on the issue of Russian food and fertilizer supplies.

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Moscow hopes that the second part of the grain deal, which concerns Russia, will be implemented after such a long period. He added that the extension of the grain deal for a period of 60 days is a gesture of goodwill on the part of Russia, as the second part of it for the Russian Federation has not yet been completed, and the deal “cannot stand on one leg.” . Peskov stressed that Russia appreciates the efforts of the United Nations and personally the Secretary-General of the Organization, Antonio Guterres, regarding the grain deal, but he failed to break through the empty wall of the West to lift part of the sanctions imposed on the Russian Federation.

The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that in the Kobyansky direction of the “Western” group of forces, enemy units were hit in the areas of the Senkovka and Kislovka settlements of the Kharkov region. Enemy losses per day amounted to 75 Ukrainian soldiers, an infantry fighting vehicle, three vehicles, four Gvozdika self-propelled howitzers and one MT-12 anti-tank gun.

In the Krasno-Limansky direction, the Ministry of Defense explained, a unit of the grouping of forces “Center” inflicted a defeat on the enemy’s manpower and equipment in the areas of the DRC’s Yambolovka and Nevsky LPR settlements. More than 95 Ukrainian militants, 2 armored fighting vehicles, 2 pickups, an Akatsiya self-propelled artillery mount, a D-30 howitzer and an American-made M777 artillery system were destroyed in this direction.

The administration noted that in the “southern” direction of Donetsk, a group of Russian armed forces destroyed up to 150 Ukrainian militants and 16 pieces of equipment, including two American M777 guns, per day.

The Russian Defense Ministry indicated that more than 40 Ukrainian militants, three armored fighting vehicles, three vehicles, two Gvozdika self-propelled artillery mounts and one Akatsia self-propelled howitzer were destroyed in the Kherson direction.

The Ministry of Defense added that a fighter plane of the Russian Aerospace Forces shot down a Ukrainian MiG-29 near the settlement of Krasnoarmeysk in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The agency stated that, during the past day, Russian air defense systems shot down 17 Ukrainian drones and 23 MLRS HIMARS, Uragan and Smerch missiles.

The Russian Defense Ministry said that in the Kharkiv region and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Russian military destroyed two Ukrainian combat vehicles of the multiple launch rocket system.

In the directions south of Donetsk and Zaporozhye, the Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed, the Vostok group of forces bombed enemy units in the areas of settlements Prechistovka in the DRC and Uspinovka in the Zaporozhye region. The enemy’s daily losses in these areas amounted to 60 Ukrainian fighters, two armored vehicles, three pickup trucks, three cars, and a D-20 howitzer. In addition, an ammunition depot of the 72nd mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian army in Vodiane in the DRC was destroyed.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, in an interview with Rossiya 1 journalist Pavel Zarubin, said that it is very difficult for Russia to engage in its own investigation into the Nord Stream terrorist attack if it is not allowed to investigate, but the terrorist attack there was committed. At the state level.

He called the version of the involvement of Ukrainian activists in the Nord Stream explosion complete nonsense, and the head of state noted that only specialists supported by the state with certain technologies could carry out an explosion of this kind.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, during a conversation with employees of the aviation plant in Ulan-Ude, said that Russia has been trying for 8 years to persuade partners to solve the problems of Donbass peacefully, and they have been deceiving Russia and leading them by the nose.

Speaking about the conflict in Ukraine, Putin said that it is necessary to show the cohesion and composure of society, the enemy will see it, and there will be a victory in the special operation. In his opinion, for the West, as an adversary, it is about improving the geopolitical state, while for Russia it is a struggle for the people and for the survival of the Russian state.

The Russian leader added that nationalism in Ukraine had long been fueled by the West. He emphasized that Russia relied on those who consider themselves part of the Russian world in Ukraine, but after 2014, the physical extermination of those who advocated the normal development of relations with Moscow began.

Peskov told reporters that Russia highly appreciates the efforts of all countries that are trying to find a solution to the conflict in Ukraine in a peaceful direction, but while this is not possible, the Russian Federation must achieve its goals. He added that unprecedented pressure is currently being exerted on many countries, especially on Serbia, but Moscow expects that sensitive issues will be resolved in the same secret dialogue with Serbian friends.

He noted that the situation in Ukraine can move in a peaceful direction, provided that the actual situation and new realities are taken into account, all Moscow’s demands are well known.

In a letter from the Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya to the heads of the UN Security Council and General Assembly, as well as the Secretary General of the organization, it was said that the authorities of Germany, Denmark and Sweden refused to cooperate with the FSB. And the Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation in the investigation of sabotage of the Nord Stream chains.

According to him, Denmark and Sweden said that “fulfilling the requests of the Russian Federation may endanger the security of these countries.” The letter says Russia is calling on members of the UN Security Council to support its draft resolution calling on the UN secretary-general to set up a commission to investigate sabotage in Nord Stream and to join its sponsorship. Nebenzia expressed his hope that the resolution would help the Security Council play a constructive role in proving the truth of what happened on the pipeline. At the same time, he noted that the authorities of Germany, Denmark and Sweden had previously rejected, without convincing explanations, the Russian Federation’s proposals for cooperation in identifying the perpetrators of sabotage in Nord Stream. The countries also rejected the proposal of the Russian Federation to form joint investigation teams.

A diplomatic source in New York said that the Swedish Prosecutor General’s Office, according to published documents, in response to a request from the Russian Federation to set up an investigative group to undermine Nord Stream, said that it did not see any interest in this.

Grushko told reporters that Russia will continue to insist that Nord Stream be investigated with its participation, so that there is no progress.

A source from the scene told the News Agency that Russian units took control of one of the buildings of the Artyomovsk Non-Ferrous Metals Processing Plant (AZOM) in Artemovsk.

The mayor of Donetsk, Alexey Kolymzin, told the News Agency that Kiev has a facility for the genocide of the civilian population in Donbass, and also has artillery units that only bomb residential areas. He added that American propaganda could not explain the bombing of civilians by Ukrainian security forces.

The head of the Novukakovsk metropolitan region, Vladimir Leontyev, told the News Agency that the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station in the Kherson region is under reliable protection, and attempts by Ukrainian forces to take control of it will be stopped. On the air of the Russia 24 TV channel, he said that attempts by Kiev sabotage groups to cross to the left bank of the Kherson region occur constantly, but they are all stopped.

The head of the “We are with Russia” movement, a member of the main council of the regional administration, Vladimir Rogov, told the News Agency that the Ukrainian authorities have begun to transfer military aircraft to the Zaporozhye direction.

The acting governor of the Zaporozhye region, Yevgeny Paletsky, told the News Agency that Kiev is constantly bombing the vicinity of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant. He added that Kiev is preparing to intensify operations on March 20, whether it will be an effective attack or a diversionary maneuver is not yet known. According to him, an accumulation of up to 40,000 Ukrainian fighters has been recorded in the North Zaporozhye region.

The acting governor of the Kherson region, Volodymyr Saldo, told the News Agency that daily Kiev fires up to 150 shells along the line of contact on the Dnieper River. He added that attempts to land Ukrainian forces on the left bank of the Dnieper River are doomed to failure.

Denis Pushlin, Acting President of the DPRK, told reporters that fierce battles are taking place literally for every meter of Artemovsk, Kiev does not take into account its numerous losses.

Wagner’s founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, told reporters that Ukrainian forces were preparing a counter-offensive in the Artemivsk region, hoping to eliminate the Wagner Group.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, in an interview with the American NBC channel, called for the “acceleration and intensification” of Western military assistance to Ukraine.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin, at a press briefing on Tuesday, answered a question about the role China can play in a peace settlement between Russia and Ukraine amid media reports of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s imminent visit to Moscow and possible talks with Volodymyr Zelensky. He said that China is ready to work with the international community and play a constructive role in its decision on the basis of its previously announced position on the political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told reporters that the republic may transfer its MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine within the next four to six weeks.

The EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, Josep Borrell, wrote on his blog on Tuesday that EU countries are likely to agree to help Ukraine with ammunition from its own stockpiles if they are confident it can replenish them through increased European military production.