West regrets refusing Russian fertilizers: Senior Russian Official
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Russian Deputy Prime Minister Viktoria Abramchenko says the West could be willing to resume trading Russian mineral fertilizers.
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Workers load fertilizer at an industrial park in Ruichang, East China's Jiangxi Province on February 15, 2022. (AP)
Nations have begun to realize that forgoing Russian mineral fertilizers would not be beneficial, and the West has already relaxed its rhetoric to resume trade, according to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Viktoria Abramchenko.
Abramchenko said that "unfriendly" states have begun to realize that it is impossible to refuse mineral fertilizers, including Russia's, hinting at a bad ending. He adds that there would be changes in the official position of unfriendly countries in order to resume such trade.
Ukraine and Russia signed the agreement on July 22, 2022, to unblock shipments of grain, food, and fertilizer in the Black Sea despite hostilities. The agreement was mediated by Turkey and the United Nations.
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The original expiration date of the agreement was November 19, with the possibility of an extension with the consent of the signatories. On November 17, it was extended for 120 days.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated on numerous occasions that the majority of ships carrying grain from Ukraine do not make it to the world's poorest nations and instead land in Europe.
He has also voiced concerns that Russian grain and fertilizer products are not entering the global markets as stipulated by the agreement.
The Russian ambassador to Turkey, Alexei Yerkhov, claims that while Kiev prevents the resumption of ammonia supplies, Latvia, Estonia, and Belgium continue to hold onto Russian agricultural products in ports.
Read next: Putin: World market suffers from 'artificial obstacles' on fertilizers
Last year, within the framework of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a UN-brokered deal between Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, and the UN to collaborate on easing the global food security crisis, about 20,000 tonnes of Russian-made fertilizers left the port of Rotterdam on board the MV Greenwich from the southern Dutch port of Terneuzen afternoon, Dutch customs announced on November 29.
