MOSCOW, July 13 Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin held telephone conversations with Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Burak Akchapar and Secretary General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Rebecca Greenspan, where he discussed the «grain deal», which expires on July 17, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
The interlocutors discussed in detail the implementation of the concluded in Istanbul on July 22, 2022, «package» agreements aimed at reducing the threat of hunger and providing assistance to countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America in need. Particular attention was paid to the implementation of the «Black Sea initiative» to export Ukrainian food,» the Russian Foreign Ministry said after Vershinin's talks with Akchapar.
Following the talks with Grispan, the ministry added that «there was an exchange of views on the implementation of the Istanbul 'package' agreements of July 22, 2022 in the context of global food security tasks.»
«In this regard, the need to implement the Russia Memorandum was noted — UN on the normalization of domestic agricultural exports, designed for three years, progress in the implementation of which is still lacking,» the ministry said.
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin on the air of the Russia 24 TV channel said that Russia is considering the option of suspending participation in the grain deal and returning to it when the promised conditions regarding the Russian Federation are met.
The Black Sea Initiative, which was signed on July 22, 2022 by representatives of Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the UN, involves the export of Ukrainian grain and food, as well as fertilizers across the Black Sea from three ports, including Odessa. The coordination of vessel traffic is handled by the Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul. Putin pointed out that the West exports most of the Ukrainian grain to their own states, and not to the needy African countries.
The grain initiative is an integral part of the package agreement. The second part — the Russia-UN memorandum, designed for three years — provides for the unblocking of Russian exports of food and fertilizers; other measures. As noted in Moscow, this part of the package agreement has not yet been implemented.
Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov said on June 21 that there are no prerequisites for extending the grain deal, since obligations towards Russia are not being fulfilled. The grain deal expires on July 17.
September 23, 2022, 11:46 InfographicWho got the grain from the food dealView