The UN is optimistic about the grain initiative’s continuation.

 In early October, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths and the UN’s top trade representative, Rebecca Greenspan, visited Moscow to discuss the grain initiative with Russian officials, who seek to increase Russian grain and fertilizer exports to global markets. Since the July 22 agreement, Ukraine has been able to resume Black Sea grain and fertilizer exports. This agreement was for 120 days. “I think we should revisit some of these procedures to see if they can be simplified in some way,” Griffiths said. The UN representative also suggested that Ukraine may try to expand the export agreement by including one more port, Mykolaiv.