MOSCOW, 14 Mar. The decision taken in Moscow to extend the grain deal for 60 days turned out to be a kind of «cold shower» for the US and the EU, the reaction of the United States and the European Union to Russia's position is unprofessional, hypocritical and distorts the real state of affairs, the official representative of the Foreign Ministry said RF Maria Zakharova.
As the diplomat noted, the Western countries expected that the development of events would follow a scenario favorable to them, in which the export of grain from Ukraine would continue unhindered, bringing income to Kiev for the purchase of weapons, while the export of Russian agricultural products would continue to be blocked.< br />
According to Zakharova, the first comments, including from Washington and the EU Delegation in Moscow, in connection with the announcement of the Russian position on the extension of the «Black Sea initiative» for the export of Ukrainian food «are striking in hypocrisy, unprofessionalism, a complete distortion of real facts.»
She called no less hypocritical the assertions, again voiced in the US, that the export of Russian agricultural products is not under the sanctions of the US and its satellites.
«In reality, the situation is exactly vice versa,» Zakharova stressed.
She pointed to the lack of progress in reconnecting Rosselkhozbank to SWIFT, resuming supplies of agricultural equipment and spare parts to Russia, lifting restrictions on insurance and access to ports for Russian ships and cargo, and unblocking the accounts and financial activities of Russian fertilizer companies.< br />
September 23, 2022, 11:46InfographicWho got the grain from the grocery deal