MOSCOW, July 21. /TASS/. No talks on alternatives to the grain deal are currently being held, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin said on Friday.

"Currently, there are no contacts on an alternative to the grain deal," he said.

"We have expressed our position quite clearly. Let us first see some results on what we have been demanding throughout the year and have received a lot of promises. Not promises, but results. And then we will be able to resume these joint efforts to supply grain to the global market," he said.

A package of documents geared to resolve the problem of food and fertilizer supplies on global markets was signed on July 22, 2022 in Istanbul and extended several times since then before ultimately expiring on July 17. Russia refused to extend it again because the part of the deal envisaging the removal of obstacles for Russian agricultural exports has never been implemented. Apart from that, Moscow has repeatedly stressed that the bulk of grain that was meant to be supplied to the poorest counties was shipped to Western countries. Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that Russia is ready to resurrect the deal but only after its part related to obligations to Moscow is fulfilled.