WASHINGTON, May 2. /TASS/. The Black Sea Grain Initiative has been reclassified as a ‘commercial project’ because most of the agricultural goods do not reach the needy countries, a Russian diplomat said.

"The disingenuity with which the American side ignores the intertwined nature of the Black Sea Initiative on the export of Ukrainian grain and the Memorandum of Understanding between Russia and the UN on promoting Russian food products and fertilizers to the world markets (which is clearly stated in the texts of the agreements) does not cease to surprise. The impression is that the historical principle of pacta sunt servanda - agreements must be kept - is being suddenly ignored here when it comes to our country. The local authorities are doing their best to hush up the issues with unblocking Russian agricultural products, when they should be delivered to the countries in need. Washington, apparently, is not interested in such ‘nuances’ at all," Minister-Counselor of the Russian Embassy in the United States Andrey Ledenev said.

The diplomat pointed out that " there is still no progress in resolving financial and logistical problems with shipments of Russian grain and fertilizers." According to him, it is difficult to import agricultural equipment to Russia and the ammonia via the Togliatti-Odessa pipeline as it is "not functioning".

"All this is a direct result of the thoughtless and universally sickening sanctions strategy by the collective West led by the United States. Instead of actually helping the Global South, US is only preoccupied with the uninterrupted supply of Ukrainian grain to European markets which are clearly not suffering, and concerned about multiplying profits of Western agricultural companies. No one here takes any humanitarian component into account. A vivid confirmation of this is the expressive silence of the White House regarding the restrictions imposed by a number of Eastern European countries on imports of agricultural products from Ukraine at dumping prices", Ledenev underscored.

The diplomat stressed that "in fact, the Black Sea Grain Initiative appears to have transformed into a commercial project." "Despite the fact that the US Administration officials continue to actively advance the thesis of its alleged importance for global food security, the numbers stubbornly prove the opposite. From almost 29 million tons of agricultural products exported from Ukrainian territory only 2.6% were sent to the nations in need. Against this background, the problems that Russia faces when shipping its own grain and fertilizers to developing countries (even free of charge) look very emblematic," the diplomat said in a statement.

On situation around grain deal

The issue of extending the grain deal was discussed last week during telephone talks between Russian president Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that the Istanbul agreements were not being implemented in terms of conditions concerning Russia, and in this regard, the prospects for extending the deal "are not very good." According to the newspaper Hurriyet, the Turkish side will discuss the problem with representatives of the UN, the US and the UK in the coming days.

The agreements on the export of food from Ukraine were concluded on July 22 for a period of 120 days. One of the agreements regulating grain exports from the Kiev-controlled ports of Odessa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny. The other deal inked between Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the UN provides for the establishment of a four-party coordination center whose representatives inspect grain ships in order to prevent arms smuggling and false flag operations. Additionally, Russia and the UN signed a memorandum, under which the organization was supposed to engage in efforts to lift anti-Russian restrictions preventing the export of agricultural products and fertilizers.

The agreements were originally signed for 120 days, and were extended for the same period last November. On March 18, Russia announced a 60-day extension of the deal, warning that this would be enough time to assess the implementation of the memorandum signed with the UN. The Russian Foreign Ministry also pointed out that a further decision on the extension of the deal would depend on reconnecting Russian Agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank) back to the SWIFT system, resuming supplies of agricultural machinery, spare parts and service, lifting restrictions on insurance and reinsurance, lifting the ban on access to ports, resuming operation of the Togliatti-Odessa pipeline, unblocking foreign assets and accounts of Russian companies involved in the production and transportation of food and fertilizers.