MOSCOW, March 24. /TASS/. The discussions in Riyadh will focus primarily on the security of navigation in the Black Sea, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
"We proceed from the fact that the issue of the Black Sea initiative and all topics related to the resumption of this initiative are on the agenda today, it was a proposal by the [US] President [Donald] Trump, and [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin has agreed to this. That is exactly the mandate with which our delegation went to Riyadh," the Kremlin spokesman said.
He said the Black Sea initiative is primarily aimed at the safety of navigation. "If you remember it in its previous form <...>, there was quite a large part of the obligations to our side, which, by the way, were not fulfilled last time. This is why it will also be on the agenda today," he said.
Russian-US consultations on restarting the Black Sea grain initiative are taking place in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) today. Russia is represented by Grigory Karasin, Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs, and Sergey Beseda, Advisor to the Director of the FSB.
The Black Sea Initiative, also known as the Grain Deal, involved the export of Ukrainian grain from the Black Sea ports and the normalization of exports of Russian agricultural products and fertilizers to global markets. Contrary to the agreements, the West exported most of the Ukrainian grain to its own countries, while the main objective of the deal - the supply of grain to nations in need - was never achieved. At the same time, obligations to Russia were not fulfilled, so in July 2023, Moscow pulled out of the deal.