ISTANBUL, December 12. /TASS/. Moscow believes that adjustments should be made to the grain deal to ensure food supplies to needy countries, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin told reporters on Monday after political consultations between Russia and Turkey in Istanbul.
"By the way, this is a reason for us to recap that the main grain supplies are still not going to the poorest countries so far. They are primarily flowing to well-developed and well-off countries. This, in turn, makes us remember how it all began. After all, the four-way deal was reached under the slogan of ensuring food security for the neediest countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America first and foremost," he pointed out.
"Unfortunately, today the figures do not confirm that most of the grain is being supplied particularly to those nations. We believe that adjustments are needed. After all, the original goal of the efforts made by both UN Secretary General [Antonio Guterres] and Turkish President [Tayyip Erdogan] was, I repeat, to help the poorest countries," the diplomat noted.
"Nevertheless, the initiative itself is being implemented," the envoy added. "As you know the deal has been extended for another 120 days. We believe that as part of the single package, it is absolutely essential to ensure progress in carrying out the second part of the package of the memorandum between Russia and the UN’s secretariat. It suggested ensuring uninterrupted access of agriculture products and fertilizers from Russia. So far, we have not received any substantial results," he emphasized.
The deal on the export of food from Ukraine was concluded on July 22 for a period of 120 days. One of the agreements regulating grain exports from the Kiev-controlled ports of Odessa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny was initially valid until November 19. The deal was extended for another 120 days on November 17. The Russian Foreign Ministry explained that the accord was prolonged automatically due to the absence of objections from the parties involved (Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United Nations).