13 October 2022, Thursday, 22:45 1346

Russia Says It Is Ready To Exit Grain Deal - Reuters

Редактор: Tetiana Herasimova

Gennady Gatilov, Russia's permanent representative to the United Nations (UN), announced Moscow's readiness to abandon the extension of the grain agreement next month if its demands are not considered. This was reported by Reuters on Thursday, October 13.

In an interview with Reuters, Gatilov said that Moscow handed over on Wednesday, October 12, a letter to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres about its readiness to abandon the grain agreement, which sets out a list of complaints. UN officials are due to visit Moscow on Sunday to discuss extending the deal, the publication said.

“Moscow has submitted concerns to the United Nations about an agreement on Black Sea grain exports, and is prepared to reject renewing the deal next month unless its demands are addressed, Russia's Geneva U.N. ambassador told Reuters on Thursday. The agreement, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in July, paved the way for Ukraine to resume grain exports from Black Sea ports that had been shut since Russia invaded. Moscow won guarantees for its own grain and fertiliser exports. The agreement helped stave off a global food crisis: Russia and Ukraine are two of the world's biggest grain exporters and Russia is the number one fertiliser exporter. But Moscow has repeatedly complained about its implementation, arguing it still faces difficulty selling fertiliser and food,” it was reported.

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said that representatives of the organization are in constant touch with Russian officials, as well as with officials from the European Union, the United Kingdom and the United States in order to remove the last obstacles to facilitate the export of Russian grain and fertiliser. He said Guterres was committed to those efforts and to having an extended and expanded Black Sea Grain Initiative.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, as of October 4, during the operation of the agreement on unlocking ports from August 1, Ukraine exported almost 6 million tons of grain.

On June 17, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia does not prevent the export of grain and other agricultural products from Ukrainian seaports.

On September 8, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Ukrainian grain allegedly goes to rich countries instead of the poor ones.