MOSCOW, June 13. /TASS/. Russia was "once again deceived" within the grain deal and the West did nothing for Russian grain exports, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with military reporters on Tuesday.
He stressed that the Russian side was assured that its grain would not be subjected to restriction or be hampered in its exports. "Unfortunately, we were once again deceived. Nothing has been done to liberalize our grain supplies to foreign markets," Putin stated.
The president recalled that the deal included such conditions for Russia as freight, insurance, payments, reconnecting the Russian Agricultural Bank to the SWIFT system.
He added that Russia is considering withdrawing from the grain deal. Putin drew attention to the fact that most of the Ukrainian grain, contrary to the agreements, goes to quite prosperous countries of the European Union. "We understand this. We deliberately agreed to it (grain deal - TASS) in order to support developing countries - our friends, and in order to lift sanctions on our agricultural sector. We were deceived once again," he said.
Moreover, he continued, almost no Ukrainian grain reaches African countries. "Therefore, we are now thinking about withdrawing from this so-called grain deal. Moreover, the vessel corridors are constantly used by the enemy to launch naval drones," Putin said.
At the same time, Russia is ready to supply the volume of grain that now comes from Ukraine free of charge to the poorest countries, in the event of its withdrawal from the grain deal, he added.
"As for the grain deal, we are considering ending our participation in it. But the volume of grain that the poorest countries received, which is a little over 3%, we will be ready to deliver to them free of charge," Putin said.