MOSCOW, February 29. /TASS/. Russia is not interested in the grain deal, Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev said, adding that the country has its own possibilities to export grain.

"We are not very much interested in this grain deal, we have our own possibilities to export our grain, which will by no means depend on the grain deal. This is to a greater extent a political issue, we are a technical realizer," he said in an interview aired by the Channel One television before Russian President Vladimir Putin’s annual State of the Nation Address to both houses of the Federal Assembly.

"There have been attempts, but in reality there was nothing," the minister said when asked whether obligations to Russia were fulfilled.

Implementation of the initial deal under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, concluded in July 2022 in Istanbul as a set of agreements to ensure a secure maritime corridor for ships carrying Ukrainian grain to world markets as well as for exports of Russian agricultural products, was terminated on July 17 at Moscow’s initiative. Russia notified Turkey, Ukraine and the US that it was against the deal’s extension.

Russian President previously noted that the Russia-specific provisions of the deal were never implemented, despite the efforts on the part of the UN, because Western countries never intended to uphold their pledges to unblock Russian exports. The Russian leader also repeatedly pointed out that the bulk of Ukrainian grain exported via the deal corridors ended up going to wealthy countries, despite the deal’s original intent to ease food insecurity by supplying grain to the world’s neediest countries, particularly in Africa.