UNITED NATIONS, April 19. /TASS/. Words about the launch of the Togliatti-Odessa pipeline for the export of Russian ammonia fertilizers never materialized, and there were no contacts with the United States to connect Russian banks to the SWIFT system for food exports, Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Pankin told reporters on Wednesday.

"Not to my knowledge," he said answering a question about any progress on the pipeline. "Many good words [were said] about this, but they did not materialize into deeds," he added.

When asked whether there were contacts with the United States to connect Russian banks to SWIFT to service food exports, Pankin said, "No, nothing. There are some exceptions when it comes to certain exports of Russian grain, but it's just a drop in the sea."

The Deputy Minister also added that it is still too early to speculate whether an agreement on the extension of the grain deal will be reached during the visit of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to the UN headquarters in New York at the end of April.

The relaunch of the Togliatti-Odessa pipeline and the connection of Rosselkhozbank to the SWIFT system were among the conditions for extending the grain deal after its expiration on May 18, according to a letter of Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya.