Guterres announced the continuation of negotiations on the grain deal

UN Secretary General António Guterres announced the continuation of negotiations on the grain deal

UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Tuesday that negotiations on the remaining outstanding issues under the Black Sea Grain Initiative are ongoing.

“Unresolved issues remain,” Guterres said at a meeting of the UN Security Council.

According to him, “representatives of Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the UN will continue their discussion.”

The UN Secretary General welcomed the continued participation of Russia in the deal and noted that he hopes for a safe and predictable supply of products and fertilizers to the world market, including ammonia “from the Russian Federation and Ukraine.”

Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that the grain deal was extended until July 17 without changes, but if all problematic issues are not resolved within 2 months, the agreement will be terminated after this date.

The head of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation Dmitry Patrushev stated that restrictions on the export of Russian grain have not been adjusted. Also during the negotiations, the Russian side emphasized that the provisions of the RF-UN memorandum, which is the second part of the grain deal, have not yet been fulfilled.

The Russia-UN memorandum, designed for 3 years, provides, in particular, for unblocking Russian exports of food and fertilizers, connecting the Russian Agricultural Bank to SWIFT, resuming supplies of agricultural equipment, spare parts and services, as well as restoring the operation of the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline and a number of other measures .