Press Secretary of the UN Secretary General commented on Vershinin’s words about the grain deal

The UN continues negotiations with Russia and Ukraine to extend the grain deal, Stephane Dujarric, a spokesman for the international organization’s secretary general, said in response to a request to comment on the words of Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin about the lack of prospects for its extension, transmits TASS.

“Discussions are ongoing. They continue constantly with our partners within the framework of the Joint Coordinating Center, including with Russia and Ukraine. As we have repeatedly said, the Black Sea Grain Initiative is critical to addressing the global food price problem, as is the Memorandum of Understanding we signed with Russia,” Dujarric said at the briefing.

At the same time, he said that he would not directly answer Vershinin. Dujarric also clarified that discussions are ongoing regarding the launch of the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline.

“Agreements on this subject should, of course, be discussed between the parties, but I do not intend to talk about any preconditions,” he replied, commenting on reports that Kiev is putting forward additional conditions for the resumption of the transit of Russian ammonia, in particular, the expansion number of ports.

How declared Vershinin, the Russian Foreign Ministry believes that there are no prospects for extending the grain deal. But the diplomat added that the Russian side continues consultations with UN representatives.

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.

On May 17, the grain deal was extended for another two months. Russia insists on five “systemic” objectives of the deal, on which there is no progress: reconnecting Rosselkhozbank to SWIFT, resuming supplies of spare parts for agricultural machinery, unblocking transport logistics and insurance, restoring the ammonia pipeline and unfreezing the assets of Russian companies. On May 18, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that if Russia’s conditions are not met, then “there is no question of any expansion of the” Black Sea initiative “in principle.