SOLNECHNOGORSK /Moscow region/, August 2. /TASS/. Russia may return to the fulfillment of the grain deal, but its terms must be fulfilled, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.
"For this, European countries simply need to take a number of measures to remove restrictions - disconnecting Rosselkhozbank [Russian Agricultural Bank] from SWIFT and others," he said.
"They can be fulfilled quickly and [then] Russia will immediately return to the implementation of the grain deal," Peskov added.
He stressed that Russia has been performing its responsibilities under the grain deal independently for far too long, while obligations to Moscow have not been met. "Russia has been fulfilling all its obligations [under the deal] unilaterally for far too long. And for far too long, the obligations to Moscow were not met, so it is now suspended," he said.
The grain deal ended on July 17. Last week, speaking at the plenary session of the Russia-Africa forum, Putin said that Russia had originally agreed to participate in the deal on the condition that its terms to remove illegitimate obstacles to the supply of grain and fertilizers from Russia to world markets would be observed. But none of these conditions was met.
In turn, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin noted that the grain deal could be resumed "in a new form," but this requires concrete action on the part of the West.