UNITED NATIONS, May 15. /TASS/. Russia sees no progress in the implementation of the Russian part of the grain deal as supplies of its agricultural products continue to be blocked by Western sanctions, Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya said on Monday.

"For about a year, we haven’t seen the slightest bit of progress in the second part of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ package deal - the Russia-UN Memorandum," he said at a meeting of the UN Security Council. "Russia’s main bank - Rosselkhozbank-which specializes in financial transactions for agricultural export contracts is still under sanctions. One-time transactions so ‘generously’ promised by Washington and Brussels are simply ridiculous when they are presented as an effective solution to the problem. The package initiated by the UN Secretary general is working only in the part related to servicing Ukraine’s commercial exports whereas Russian agricultural exports continue to be blocked by Western sanctions, without any prospect of relief for allegedly unsanctioned fertilizers and food."

"As a matter of fact, the United States and its satellites, with the mentoring typical of them, are imposing a thesis that the world needs Ukrainian fodder corn (70% of exports) more than Russian wheat and fertilizers," he noted.

"As is known, last week Istanbul hosted four-part high-level talks on the future of the Black Sea Initiative. Contacts on this matter continue. We would like to remind that when the deal was extended back in March we stated the lack of progress on five systemic problems blocking Russian agricultural exports," Nebenzya added.