Lavrov threatened to terminate the grain deal if there is no progress on it

The grain deal will cease to function if “everything remains as it is.” This statement was made by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at a press conference following talks with the Foreign Minister and the President of Kenya.

“As for the further fate of this Black Sea initiative, we have already made such comments. If everything remains as it is, and apparently it will be so, then it will be necessary to proceed from the fact that it no longer functions,” emphasized He.

On May 17, the grain deal was extended for another two months. In the Kremlin noted relative result in negotiations with the participation of representatives of Turkey, Ukraine and the UN. According to the press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov, the fate of the deal is in the hands of those with whom the UN should agree on the Russian part of the treaty.

Later at the Foreign Ministry declaredthat in the event of no progress in meeting the conditions of the second part of the transaction and refusal to connect Rosselkhozbank to SWIFT, the Black Sea initiative will have to look for an alternative. Lavrov earlier saidthat the next two months will be decisive for the grain deal.

The grain deal was concluded on July 22, 2022 by representatives of Turkey and the UN on the one hand and representatives of Russia and Ukraine on the other. Separate agreements were concluded with Moscow and Kiev: the first was for the export of Ukrainian grain from three ports, including Odessa, Yuzhny and Chernomorsk, and the second was for assistance in the export of Russian grain and fertilizers. Moscow has repeatedly noted that the second part of the deal is not being implemented.