Russia says ready to revive grain deal, but demands must be met

An official confirmed that the Russian Federation (RF) is ready to restore the grain agreement, but first it needs to meet its obligations to Russia under this agreement.

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The Black Sea grain deal was signed in Istanbul, Türkiye, on July 22, 2022 between the United Nations, Russia, Türkiye and Ukraine. (Source: Bloomberg)

On the afternoon of July 21, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin held a press conference with domestic and international reporters on the grain deal across the Black Sea.

At the press conference, Deputy Minister Vershinin reaffirmed that the Memorandum of Understanding between Russia and the United Nations (UN), signed under the agreements in Istanbul, continues to be in force.

“The memorandum of understanding between Russia and the UN remains in force. We have not received any notification that the UN wants to terminate it, and we have not sent such a notification,” Mr. Vershinin said.

The memorandum, signed for a period of three years, stipulates that the agreement can only be terminated if one of the parties declares that it does not want to continue the cooperation.

Mr. Vershinin said that within a year, Ukraine had shipped 32 million tons of grain via the Black Sea Initiative, while also shipping about 30 million tons by land. He also noted that shipping grain by sea is cheaper, but there is still an opportunity to ship it by land.

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister said Moscow is ready to restore the grain deal, but first it needs to meet its obligations under the deal.

According to him, Moscow wants to see concrete steps from its partners to meet the five requirements of the Russian Federation agreement. At the same time, if the agreements are extended, it will be able to exist in a new form.

Regarding Russia's commitment to provide free grain to poor countries, Mr. Vershinin said Russia understands Africa's concerns and is currently in contact with countries on the continent so that they do not feel the grain deal is terminated.

Countries in need will receive the necessary guarantees from Moscow on their food needs at the Russia-Africa summit to be held in St. Petersburg later this month.

Russia is currently studying new routes to organize the export of its agricultural products amid the complicated situation in the Black Sea.

The Black Sea Grain Agreement was signed in Istanbul, Türkiye, on July 22, 2022 between the United Nations, the Russian Federation, Türkiye and Ukraine.

Two documents were signed - on creating a grain export corridor from three Ukrainian ports (Chernomorsk, Odessa and Yuzhny) and on removing barriers to the export of Russian food and fertilizers.

In November 2022, the agreement was extended for 120 days, until March 2023, after which it was extended two more times – each time for two months. On July 17, when the agreement expired, Russia decided not to extend it further.

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