Vershinin: UN failed to persuade EU to connect Rosselkhozbank to SWIFT

The UN failed to convince the EU to reconnect Rosselkhozbank to the SWIFT payment system, said Sergey Vershinin, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation.

“The essential question that we asked, demanded, is “reSWIFTing” [переподключении к SWIFT] Rosselkhozbank. In essence, today the UN has recognized that such “reSWIFTing”, such actions stumble upon a complete wall of negativity from those who make decisions in the European Union and other Western capitals,” Vershinin said (quote according to RIA Novosti).

June 9 in Geneva passed consultations on a grain deal between the Russian Foreign Ministry and a UN delegation led by Secretary General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Rebecca Greenspan. On the part of the Russian Foreign Ministry, “there was no progress on three of the five specified tasks,” in particular, on connecting the Russian Agricultural Bank to SWIFT, as well as in the situation around the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline, which was blown up by the Ukrainian side on June 7.

Formerly Vershinin declaredthat the decision to extend the grain deal will be made only on the basis of Russia’s interests. “In any circumstances, we must be guided by a clear understanding of the interests of the Russian side. Therefore, this is what we will be guided by,” the Deputy Minister specified.

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. In May, the agreement was extended until July 17.