Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin said Russia does not deny efforts to implement the Black Sea Grain Initiative but stressed that Moscow needs a concrete result.
Moscow recognizes the UN's efforts to implement the memorandum with the Russian Federation on the export of Russian agricultural products and fertilizers to world markets and is ready to continue dialogue, but these negotiations must be fruitful.
This was the statement on June 10 by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin - Head of the Russian Delegation attending consultations with United Nations representatives in Geneva (Switzerland) on the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
According to TASS news agency, during the consultations held on June 9, UN officials mentioned efforts to implement the Black Sea Grains Initiative.
Deputy Minister Vershinin said Russia did not deny these efforts but stressed that Moscow needed concrete results. He recalled the remaining barriers to financial transactions, insurance and reinsurance, as well as the release of capital from Russian companies.
Regarding the above issues, Deputy Minister Vershinin affirmed that "there is no progress in this direction."
In particular, the Russian delegation raised the unresolved issue of connecting the Russian Agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank) to the SWIFT global payment system.
The date for further consultations between Russia and the United Nations on the implementation of the memorandum has not yet been set. Deputy Minister Vershinin said that the two sides regularly hold consultations, Moscow is ready to continue the dialogue and hopes to receive satisfactory results.
Ahead of the consultations in Geneva, Deputy Minister Vershinin said Moscow saw no prospects for extending the Black Sea Grain Initiative, but would continue to consult with UN representatives on the deal.
He pointed out that Russia has repeatedly requested to include the export of Russian ammonia through Ukraine in the above agreement, considering it a mutually beneficial trade transaction, but Ukraine has made different demands to implement the agreement and this has caused the situation to fall into a deadlock.
In July 2022, the United Nations and Turkey brokered the Black Sea Grains Initiative to help address the global food crisis worsening due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the world's top grain exporter.
Within the framework of the initiative, Russia and the United Nations signed a memorandum on facilitating the supply of Russian agricultural products and fertilizers to world markets, while Ukraine signed an agreement with Türkiye and the United Nations on the safe export of food and fertilizers from Ukraine across the Black Sea.
The initial agreement is valid for 120 days, with an extension of 120 days in November 2022.
On March 13, Russia agreed to extend the agreement by 60 days, until May 18. Russia warned that it would terminate the agreement after this deadline if barriers to its food and fertilizer exports were not removed.
Following talks between delegations from Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Nations in Istanbul, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on May 17 that the grain deal had been extended for two months, starting from May 18./.
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