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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Lavrov named a condition for Russia's return to the grain deal |
| 2023-09-11 |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. [Regnum] The Russian side has repeatedly stated its readiness to return to the Black Sea initiative. This will happen as soon as all obstacles to Russian grain exports are removed. The head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sergei Lavrov, stated this during a press conference on September 10. He recalled the words of President Vladimir Putin that the grain deal can be resumed, but only in both parts: not only the export of Ukrainian grain, but also the removal of any obstacles to the export of Russian fertilizers and wheat. “[Russian President Vladimir] Putin clearly and repeatedly said that at the moment when all the actions necessary to remove any obstacles to our exports are completed, we will return on the same day to the collective implementation of the Ukrainian part of the Black Sea initiative,” the minister emphasized . He called unrealistic proposals to connect a subsidiary of the Russian Agricultural Bank to SWIFT to resume the grain deal. As Regnum reported , the grain deal between Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the UN has been in effect since July 22, 2022 and has been extended several times. The Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly stated that there are no grounds for further extension of the deal, since it has turned into a purely commercial export of food from Ukraine to “well-fed” countries. On July 17, the Kremlin announced the suspension of Russia's participation in the grain deal. Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov noted that the Black Sea initiative has effectively ceased to operate. Moscow emphasized that none of the promises made to Russia at the conclusion of the agreement were ever fulfilled, while Ukraine and the West made money on the grain deal, and Kiev used sea corridors to prepare terrorist attacks against Russia. Following negotiations with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan , which took place in Sochi on September 4, Putin emphasized that Russia is ready to return to the grain deal as soon as all its conditions are met. The Turkish leader recognized Moscow's position as fair. Erdogan recalled that one of the conditions for extending the grain deal was the connection of Rosselkhozbank to the SWIFT system, from which Russian banks were excluded due to sanctions. The Turkish President said that UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres proposed a different mechanism for paying for Russian food as part of a grain deal, which would be derived from transactions via SWIFT. The Russian Foreign Ministry, in turn, said that the last four UN proposals on the grain deal do not contain anything new. Diplomats emphasized that reconnecting the specialized Rosselkhozbank to SWIFT has no working alternatives - neither with the options of branches and subsidiaries, nor through a marginal channel with JP Morgan, which was closed after the collapse of the Black Sea initiative. Turkish President Erdogan called on the leaders of the Group of Twenty (G20) to fulfill a number of Russian demands in order to resume the grain deal. In September, the Ukrainian authorities submitted to Turkey a proposal to resume the work of the grain corridor in the Black Sea without the participation of Russia. |
| Posted by:badanov |
| #4 Russian Gazprom to increase gas discount for China to 50% despite losses - Reuters The Russians will make up for their losses with volume. |
| Posted by: Enver Slager8035 2023-09-11 15:43 |
| #3 As a result of these restrictions, as much as $39 billion could be stuck in Indian bank accounts, according to Reuters. "This is a problem," Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters in the Indian state of Goa in May. "We need to use this money. But for this, these rupees must be transferred in another currency, and this is being discussed now." In September, Lavrov appeared to admit that Moscow has all but given up on rescuing its rupee-denominated stash worth billions from India. Aside from oil, Russia is one of India's top suppliers of weapons and military hardware. Between April 2022 and February 2023, India's imports from Russia reached $41.56 billion, including a more than 900% increase of crude oil imports year-on-year, according to Factly data. Meanwhile its exports to Russia amounted to just $3 billion. |
| Posted by: Enver Slager8035 2023-09-11 15:23 |
| #2 When the UN says the Russians got screwed on the grain deal, it really must have been bad. |
| Posted by: DooDahMan 2023-09-11 05:11 |
| #1 #Russian Foreign Minister #Lavrov: "In the current situation, many billions of rupees have been accumulated, which have not yet found their use. Our Indian friends assured that they will offer promising areas where they can be invested." Since the beginning of the war, the Russians have announced a policy of "dedollarization" and settlements in national currencies. Petroleum products were sold to India for rupees, which are almost impossible to convert into dollars due to sanctions. The Russians also cannot find a use for the stuck rupees. ---- The Russians sold the Indians discounted (up to $30/bbl) oil for what is in effect unspendable IOUs. Meanwhile, the Indians refined that oil and sold it for hard currency on the international market. Dedollarization in a nutshell. Russia's next super genius plan: invest in North Korea. |
| Posted by: Enver Slager8035 2023-09-11 00:24 |