The Kremlin continues to express its reluctance to return to the Black Sea Grain Initiative in the absence of significant concessions from the West, according to a daily report by the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) from Washington.
The Institute recalled that on August 4, the Kremlin released a joint statement with the official name African Peace Initiative. The statement was preceded by a meeting on July 28 of Russian President Vladimir Putin with African leaders.
The document from the ISW says that African leaders have called for concrete steps to remove obstacles to Russian grain and fertilizer exports, as well as the release and delivery to African countries of 200,000 tons of Russian fertilizer stuck in European ports.
"These calls suggest that the African leaders support Russia’s conditions for revitalizing the Black Sea Grain Initiative,” the Institute's analysts said.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on August 4 that the United States will continue to do "whatever is necessary" to ensure that Russia can freely export food on the global market if Russia would be willing to revive the Black Sea Grain Initiative and allow Ukraine to export grain safely through the Black Sea. Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov responded to Blinken’s statement by claiming that as soon as the United States fulfills Russia’s conditions, “the deal will immediately be resumed.”
“These statements give no clear indication that Russia intends to rejoin the Black Sea Grain Initiative and seeks to coerce the West to end limitations on its own exports,” the ISW summarized.
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