The UN Secretary General will continue contacts with Russia on resuming the grain deal

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is interacting with the Russian side on the issue of resuming the grain deal and plans to continue these contacts. This was stated by his spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

Answering a question about whether the Secretary General is in contact with Russia on the grain deal, Dujarric replied that “discussions are ongoing.”

“At present, the Secretary General aims to continue discussions on this topic with all interested parties,” noted Dujarric briefing (quote from TASS).

The grain deal was concluded on July 22, 2022 and was valid until July 18, 2023. The essence of the deal between Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the UN was the possibility of exporting Ukrainian grain, food and fertilizers from three ports along a safe corridor in the Black Sea in exchange for unblocking Russian exports of food and fertilizers, reconnecting Rosselkhozbank to SWIFT, as well as resuming the supply of agricultural machinery, spare parts and service.

After July 18, Russia did not extend the grain deal. Russian President Vladimir Putin previously stated that Western countries did not fulfill their obligations to Russia as part of the initiative, despite calls from the UN. He also reported that most of the grain from Ukraine was received by high-income countries, although the purpose of the deal was to provide food to countries in need.

September 22, press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov statedthat there is currently no progress in terms of fulfilling Russia’s conditions for resuming the grain deal. In the same week, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell statedthat the European Union cannot agree with Russia on the resumption of the “Black Sea initiative.”