Russia to continue working with UN on grain deal: Diplomat
2 Min Read
The Russian Deputy Foreign Minister says Moscow has not yet received any concrete results of the second part of the grain deal.
-
Sergey Vershinin, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister (Reuters)
Sergey Vershinin, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, affirmed that Russia will continue to cooperate with the United Nations within the grain deal to achieve concrete results and to establish food security in low-income countries.
Following talks with Turkish officials in Istanbul, Vershinin told reporters that "the issue concerns reconnecting Rosselkhozbank to SWIFT and the provision of insurance and financial transactions that cover agricultural exports from Russia."
"We will continue to work with UN representatives to ensure that the memorandum is being realized and is producing concrete results within the goals, which created the basis of this initiative: to ensure food security in the world, specifically in the poorest countries," the Russian diplomat indicated.
The Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, however, noted that Moscow has not yet received any concrete results of the second part of the package, which presupposed unhampered access and exports of Russian agricultural products and fertilizers.
On July 22, Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, and the United Nations struck a deal to provide a humanitarian maritime corridor for ships with food and fertilizer exports from Ukrainian Black Sea ports.
However, Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said that most of the ships carrying Ukrainian grain did not make it to the world's poorest countries and ended up in Europe.
Putin has also voiced his concerns that Russian products are not entering the global markets as promised by the agreement.
The grain deal, originally scheduled to expire on November 18, has been extended for another 120 days on November 17.
Read more: Second ship under grain initiative leaves for Ethiopia
