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| Grain Deal News Roundup: Putin allowed the suspension of Russia's participation in the grain deal |
| 2023-07-14 |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. [Regnum] On July 13, Russian President Vladimir Putin allowed the suspension of participation in the grain deal due to non-compliance by its participants with the conditions of Moscow. “As one of the options: not first the extension, and then the fulfillment of promises, but first the fulfillment of promises, and then our participation. We may suspend our participation in this transaction. If everyone once again says that all the promises made to us will be fulfilled, well, let them fulfill this promise, and we will immediately join this deal again, ”the Russian leader said on the air of the Rossiya 24 TV channel. The President noted that participation can be extended exactly at the moment when all participants fulfill their promises. Until then, the suspension of the participation of the Russian side may be as long as necessary to fulfill its conditions. At the same time, Putin said that the UN is sincerely trying to create conditions for the West to fulfill its obligations. As IA Regnum reported, a grain deal for a period of 120 days was agreed in 2022 and extended several times. It consists of two agreements regulating the export of Ukrainian grain and the access of Russian agricultural products and fertilizers to world markets. Moscow repeatedly pointed out non-compliance with the terms of the deal, but on May 17 agreed to a two-month extension of the grain deal. At the same time, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that they see no progress in resolving three of the five tracks under the grain deal. The head of the department, Sergei Lavrov , said on June 14 that the future of the agreement depends on the fulfillment of the conditions of the Russian side. He stressed that if Russia's conditions are not met by July 17, Moscow's continued participation in the deal is out of the question. Lavrov noted that the Ukrainian part of the agreements during this time has turned into a commercial project. This was also stated by President Putin, who allowed the withdrawal from the "Black Sea Grain Initiative". The head of state stressed that the corridors along which the ships go are constantly used by the Armed Forces of Ukraine to launch drones. Later, his press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that part of the conditions for the grain deal had not yet been fulfilled. This is how he commented on the consideration by the European Union of the possibility of creating a subsidiary company for connection to the international SWIFT system by Rosselkhozbank. Peskov added that there are few hopes for this. On July 12, UN Secretary-General António Guterres sent a letter to Putin with proposals to extend the grain deal. As reported in the office of the Secretary General, he is ready to interact with Russia on his proposals and remains in contact with the relevant parties. In particular, in the letter, Guterres touched on the topic of settlements through the Russian Agricultural Bank. More from regnum.ru Putin called the grain deal a one-sided game To date, not a single item within the framework of the grain deal related to Russian interests has been fulfilled. This was announced on July 13 in an interview with journalist Pavel Zarubin on the Rossiya 24 TV channel by Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Nothing, I want to emphasize this, nothing was done at all. Not a single item related to the fact that there are interests of the Russian Federation has been fulfilled,” the Russian leader emphasized. He noted that this was a one-sided game and recalled that among the conditions guaranteeing the safety of the export of Ukrainian grain from Russia, there were points on which the interests of the Russian side should also be taken into account. In particular, we are talking about logistics, insurance, the movement of money associated with paying for Russian products, as well as a number of other issues. At the same time, the President pointed out that many European countries, which, as a result, left a significant part of Ukrainian grain, began to refuse Ukrainian grain. “They started discriminating against Ukrainian grain, not us,” Putin said. He added that Russia could suspend participation in the grain deal and return to it when Russian conditions are met. “We will extend. Exactly at the moment when the promises given to us will be fulfilled, ” Putin said. In the meantime, there are a few days left before the expiration of the Black Sea initiative, Russia will think about this issue for the time being, the Russian leader concluded. As IA Regnum reported, on July 3, the Financial Times wrote that the EU is considering allowing Rosselkhozbank to create a subsidiary that will be connected to the international SWIFT system. It is assumed that this will make it possible to carry out settlements within the framework of the grain transaction. Later, Vladislav Ginko , an economist and lecturer at the RANEPA under the President of Russia , said that such an opportunity does not guarantee compliance with the terms of the agreement and the fulfillment of the true tasks of the grain deal. According to him, in view of this, Moscow may abandon such an idea. Representatives of Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the UN signed the Black Sea Initiative in Istanbul on July 22, 2022. After that, the grain deal was extended three times: in November 2022, and also in March and May 2023. The grain deal, which aims to help countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America in need, expires on July 17. The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that there were no grounds for its extension. The press secretary of the Russian leader, Dmitry Peskov , said that nothing had changed in terms of the grain deal. According to him, there is no telephone conversation between the presidents of Turkey and Russia on the issue of extending the grain deal, but the leaders, if necessary, can very quickly agree on it. In turn, Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed hope for the extension of the grain deal for at least three months. At the same time, he stressed that Ankara will strive to extend the grain corridor for two years. On July 13, a source familiar with the negotiations stated that the United Nations intends to extend the grain deal for at least two months. Yet more from regnum.ru Lavrov said he was unaware of new proposals for a grain deal Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on July 13 that he was not aware of any new proposals for a grain deal. Foreign Minister Lavrov said he was not aware of any new proposals for a grain deal. “I don’t know about any new proposals,” Lavrov told reporters. The Minister noted that, apparently, we are talking about the fact that Russia and Turkey have already discussed the readiness of the two countries to work regardless of any other agreements on preferential grain supplies to developing countries. A grain deal for a period of 120 days was agreed upon in 2022 and extended several times. It consists of two agreements, one of which regulates the export of Ukrainian grain and another one regulates the access of agricultural products and fertilizers from Russia to world markets. Moscow has repeatedly pointed out non-compliance with the Russian part of the grain deal. Nevertheless, on May 17, the Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed the extension of the grain deal for two months. Lavrov said on June 14 that the Ukrainian part of the grain deal had turned into a commercial project. According to him, according to the statistics of the Joint Focal Point, only about 3% goes to the poorest countries. The minister stressed that Moscow would not renew the deal if it did not see the fulfillment of its conditions by July 17. Termination of participation in the deal is also considered by the head of state Vladimir Putin . At the same time, the Russian side has repeatedly stressed that the West is blocking the solution of most of the problems of the grain deal. |
| Posted by:badanov |