MOSCOW, November 22. /TASS/. The West continues the policy of purchasing cheap grain for selling it at a premium to countries in need, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin said.

"Western countries continue their policy of purchasing cheap grain for processing and selling it later at a higher price to countries in need," he said at a roundtable on the issue of food security.

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.