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Russian, UN officials exchange opinions on grain deal in Geneva - Russia’s MFA

The sides confirmed that only an unhindered access for Russian food and fertilizers to global markets would help prices to stabilize and ensure a future harvest of crops

MOSCOW, November 12. /TASS/. At a regular round of consultations on Friday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin exchanged opinions on the grain deal with Secretary-General of the UN Conference on Trade and Development Rebeca Grynspan and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths from the UN delegation, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

"A substantial exchange of opinions took place on the implementation of the `Black Sea initiative’ for exporting Ukrainian food and the Russia-UN memorandum on ways to streamline the export of Russian agricultural products which are components of a single `package’ of measures to ensure global food security," the statement reads.

The sides confirmed that only an unhindered access for Russian food and fertilizers to global markets would help prices to stabilize and ensure a future harvest of crops. They also warned against politicizing the humanitarian issues of providing assistance to affected countries and reducing the threat of a famine or those becoming the target of unilateral sanctions.

Agreements on food exports from Ukraine were concluded in Istanbul on July 22 for 120 days. They are effective until November 19.