MOSCOW, November 8. /TASS/. The United Nations has effectively failed in its attempts to revive the Black Sea grain deal, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told an ambassadorial roundtable discussion on resolving the Ukraine crisis.
"We can see the efforts being made by Mr. [UN Secretary General Antonio] Guterres and UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development - TASS) Secretary General Ms. [Rebeca] Grynspan, but they are failing in their efforts as the West <…> claims that no sanctions whatsoever have been imposed on Russian food or fertilizers," Lavrov said. According to him, "this also shows how helpless the United Nations is."
Implementation of the initial deal under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, concluded in July 2022 in Istanbul as a set of agreements to ensure a secure maritime corridor for ships carrying Ukrainian grain to world markets as well as for exports of Russian agricultural products, was terminated on July 17 at Moscow’s initiative. Russian President Vladimir Putin previously noted that the Russia-specific provisions of the deal were never implemented, despite the efforts on the part of the UN, because Western countries never intended to uphold their pledges to unblock Russian exports. The Russian leader also repeatedly pointed out that the bulk of Ukrainian grain exported via the deal corridors ended up going to wealthy countries, despite the deal’s original intent to ease food insecurity by supplying grain to the world’s neediest countries, particularly in Africa.