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MOSCOW, November 8. The Russian part of the grain deal is absolutely “zero”, the UN’s efforts are bringing nothing, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a meeting with heads of accredited countries Diplomatic missions to Moscow in a round table format on Ukraine.
“Our part of the package is absolutely “zero.” We see the efforts of (UN Secretary General Antonio — ed.) Guterres, UNCTAD Secretary General Mrs. Greenspan, but these efforts bring nothing, because the West stubbornly, looking you in the eye, in this case, the staff of the UN Secretariat declares that no sanctions have been imposed against food and fertilizers from Russia,” the minister said.
According to him, this is another example of Western lies.
The Black Sea Initiative, which was signed by representatives of Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the UN on July 22, 2022, envisaged the export of Ukrainian grain and food, as well as fertilizers across the Black Sea from three ports, including Odessa. The grain deal ceased on July 18, when the Russian Federation notified Turkey, Ukraine and the UN of its objection to its extension. Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that the terms of the deal regarding Russia were not fulfilled, despite the efforts of the UN, because Western countries were not going to fulfill their promises. Putin has repeatedly pointed out that the West exported most of Ukrainian grain to its own states, and the main goal of the deal — supplying grain to countries in need, including African ones — was never realized.
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, among the main tasks were the reconnection of Rosselkhozbank to SWIFT, the resumption of supplies of agricultural machinery, spare parts and service, the restoration of the Tolyatti — Odessa ammonia pipeline and a number of other measures. As Moscow has repeatedly noted, this part of the package agreement was not implemented.