UNITED NATIONS, September 23. /TASS/. All promises that were given to Moscow as part of the grain export deal turn out to be a lie, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference on the sidelines of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
"The main reason why we withdrew from the deal and it ceased to exist is because all that we were promised turned out to be a lie," he explained.
Lavrov pointed out that there had been two parts to the Black Sea Grain Initiative. "It was a package developed through talks, which reflected the interests of the parties and other participants. However, while the Ukraine-related part of the package was being implemented quite effectively, the Russia-related part was not being implemented at all," he noted.
The top diplomat pointed out that the grain corridors had been used for attacks on Russian ships. "When it (the deal - TASS) was in effect, those very corridors in the Black Sea that our marines had opened for the safe passage of grain ships were several times used for the launch of surface drones in attacks on Russian ships," Lavrov said. "We made several warnings but it went on," he added.
He also pointed to the explosions that hit the Nord Stream gas pipelines and the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline, saying that "no one intends to investigate" those incidents. "This is another example of how the most important facts are swept under the rug and another lie is being made up in order to build more geopolitical schemes. It is a list that includes the Bucha incident, the Salisbury story and the Navalny saga," Lavrov concluded.