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Grain deal renewal can be discussed only on terms stipulated by Russia — diplomatic source

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia would consider resurrecting the Black Sea Grain Initiative as soon as all obligations to Moscow were fulfilled

MOSCOW, August 29. /TASS/. The issue of renewing the Black Sea grain deal can be discussed only on those terms stipulated earlier by Russian President Vladimir Putin, a Russian diplomatic source told TASS.

"The grain deal issue can be discussed solely on those conditions outlined earlier by the Russian president," the source said.

Earlier, Putin said that the Russian side would consider resurrecting the Black Sea Grain Initiative as soon as all obligations to Moscow were fulfilled.

That said, the Russian leader stated that none of the Russia-related provisions of the initial Istanbul agreements of July 2022, which called for creating safe-passage corridors for Ukrainian grain exports as well as lifting sanctions barriers to Russian agricultural exports, had ever been implemented.

After several extensions, the Black Sea Initiative grain deal lapsed on July 17, when Russia notified Turkey, Ukraine and the UN of its objections to extending it further. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin told TASS that Russia’s conditions remained the same: reconnecting the Russian Agricultural Bank to SWIFT, resuming spare parts deliveries, maintaining transportation logistics and insurance and restoring Russian companies' access to their foreign assets, only after which it would be possible to consider reviving the Black Sea Initiative in accordance with its stated humanitarian goals.