MOSCOW, June 14. /TASS/. Russia will not endlessly show goodwill in the situation around the grain deal, since the West does not fulfill the agreements on exports of Russian agricultural products, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.
"Russia has repeatedly made gestures of goodwill, showing a very responsible approach. But, unfortunately, in the absence of reciprocity and the desire of the collective West to fulfill part of the agreements concerning Russia, of course, this manifestation of goodwill, political will, cannot be infinite," he said.
Peskov added that Russia's withdrawal from the grain deal is possible when its next extension period ends. "At the end," he said, answering a question whether Russia could exit the grain deal ahead of schedule or at the end of the current period.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with military reporters on Tuesday Russia is considering withdrawing from the grain deal. He 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.
On July 22, 2022, a package of documents on the supply of food and fertilizers to the international market was signed in Istanbul. Initially, the agreements were concluded for 120 days, in November of last year they were extended for the same period. On March 18, 2023, Russia announced a 60-day extension of the deal, warning that this would be enough time to evaluate the implementation of the memorandum signed with the UN. On May 17, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the grain deal had been extended for two months starting May 18.