Antonov accused the United States of trying to avoid responsibility for the failures of the grain deal

The United States is seeking to evade responsibility for failures in the implementation of the grain deal. Russia and shift the focus of attention from the inconsistency of the export of Ukrainian grain to humanitarian purposes. This statement was made by the Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov. His words are given in the Telegram channel of the Russian diplomatic mission.

“Washington’s attempts to put pressure on developing countries in order to “persuade” the Russian Federation to return to the “grain deal” are part of a campaign to distort the real state of affairs. Thus, they are trying to remove themselves from responsibility for systemic failures in the work of the interconnected Istanbul agreements,” Antonov said.

The diplomat stressed that Russia is still ready to return to the implementation of the Istanbul agreements, but for this, the United States and its allies must “remove the distortions, not in words, but in deeds” in the implementation of the grain deal. The West’s claims of exemptions are “another piece of information” as Russian companies continue to face financial and logistical difficulties when exporting grain and fertilizers.

Antonov also drew attention to Washington’s reaction to the gratuitous supply of grain to African countries announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin. “I would like to offer local Russophobes: if you don’t like what Russia is doing in Africa, do it better. <...> If you think that gratuitous Russian grain supplies are insignificant, announce larger batches of agricultural products for the needs of Africa,” the ambassador said.

Speaking at the plenary session of the Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum in St. Petersburg on July 27, Putin declaredthat the Russian Federation is ready to supply free of charge to a number of African countries 20,000-25,000 tons of grain in the next three to four months. 8 August US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken named such a step is a drop in the ocean. According to him, this will not stop the rise in prices and will not solve the problem with the lack of access of developing countries to grain.

On July 17, Russia left the Black Sea Initiative, which was signed on July 22, 2022 by representatives of Turkey, the UN, Russia and Ukraine. The Kremlin explained this by the failure to fulfill the second part of the agreement, which concerns, among other things, the lifting of restrictions on the supply of Russian products. At the same time, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that the deal could be resumed if Russia’s requirements were met.

August 2, Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov declaredthat Russia is “ready to immediately return” to the grain deal as soon as it is implemented in terms of Russian conditions.