Essential preconditions for extending Black Sea grain deal currently lacking — Kremlin
On May 10-11, talks between the delegations of Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the UN were held in Istanbul
MOSCOW, June 21. /TASS/. None of the essential preconditions allowing Russia to agree to extend the Black Sea grain deal currently exist, given that the collective West cannot be prevailed upon to execute the deal’s second part, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.
"No, there are no preconditions because it [the deal] has not been fulfilled; the agreements have not yet been fulfilled. We have already heard statements from representatives of the United Nations, who are forced to acknowledge that, unfortunately, they are unable to exert due influence on the countries of the collective West in order to fulfill the Russian part of the agreements," he said.
"So far, unfortunately, things haven't gone forward one inch," he added.
About the grain deal
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, but in November of last year they were extended for another 120-day period. On March 18, 2023, Russia announced it had agreed to a 60-day extension of the deal, while warning that this should provide sufficient time to evaluate the implementation of the memorandum signed with the UN.
On May 10-11, talks between the delegations of Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the UN were held in Istanbul. According to the results of the talks, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin said that the grain deal would become non-operational if Moscow did not receive guarantees by May 18 that its deal-related requirements had been met.
As Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on May 17, the grain deal was extended for two months starting from May 18. The Turkish leader thanked the leadership of Russia, Ukraine and the UN for taking a constructive approach.
The Russian Foreign Ministry stressed that the part of the agreement covering obligations to Moscow is not being fulfilled.
In particular, Russia has insisted on restoring the access of its ships to foreign ports, normalizing the situation with the insurance of dry cargo ships, and reconnecting the Russian Agricultural Bank to the SWIFT interbank payment system.