ANKARA, April 28. /TASS/. The difficulties with executing the Russian part of the grain deal are persisting because of the US and the UK, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in an interview with the TRT television channel on Friday.

"If you ask me whether the difficulties with the execution of the Russian part of the grain deal continue, I will answer that they continue. This is because of the US and the UK. Although they say that they do not apply sanctions against this, their banks do not cooperate [in terms of processing payments for Russian agricultural products as part of the grain deal]," he said. "Our Mr. President received a letter with a UN roadmap for overcoming these problems. It stipulates the participation of Turkish banks, including Ziraat Bank, which will participate in financial transactions. But we need to obtain guarantees that they will not fall under sanctions."

Cavusoglu also said that he had discussed the issue with his counterparts from the US and the UK.

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Friday told reporters that the grain deal is not being fulfilled in terms of the conditions relating to Russia, and said that dims the prospects for its extension.

Agreements to export food from Ukraine were signed on July 22, 2022 in Istanbul to last 120 days and were extended for another 120 days in November. One of the agreements sets forth a procedure for the export of grain from Kiev-controlled ports of Odessa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny. Russia and the UN also concluded a memorandum for the UN to work toward lifting the restrictions on the export of Russian agricultural products and fertilizers to world markets. Moscow has said the memorandum hasn’t been fulfilled. Russia announced on March 18 that the deal was extended for another 60 days, warning that this would be ample time to evaluate the execution of the memorandum that had been signed with the UN. The Russian Foreign Ministry also said the deal’s further extension will hinge on reconnecting Russia’s Rosselkhozbank to SWIFT, resumption of supplies of farm equipment and parts, removal of restrictions of insurance, reinsurance and port calls, resumption of operation of the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline, unblocking foreign assets and accounts of the Russian companies that deal with shipping food and fertilizers.

Earlier this week, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sent a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin with ideas on how to implement the grain deal, and similar messages were sent to Ukraine and Turkey.