Russia considers agricultural export pact uncertain

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the future of an agreement on the export of Ukrainian grains and Russian fertilizers from the Black Sea ports is uncertain.

According to Lavrov, if the situation “does not change”, it will be necessary to “assume that the pact no longer works.”

The Russian authorities have demonstrated several times in recent months that they do not agree with the drafting of the agreement, as they believe that part of the pact on “guaranteeing the export of Russian agricultural fertilizers” is not being implemented.

Lavrov claimed that “less than three percent” of the thirty million tons of Ukrainian grain exported from the Black Sea reached the “poorest countries.”

The head of Russian diplomacy, who is on an official visit to Kenya, also accused the “European Union – and the countries that make up the European bloc -” of acting to “sabotage food security.”

“We have the opportunity to supply products of our agro-industrial complex, bypassing the mechanisms of the Russia-UN Memorandum. But it would be more positive if the Secretary General [da ONU, António Guterres] able to do everything he asks,” said Lavrov, quoted by Interfax with reference to the food and fertilizer market.

The grain export agreement, signed in July 2022, is one of the few agreements signed between Russia and Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion last year.

The agreement has been extended over the past few months, and the latest extension is expected to run until mid-July.

The Russian authorities have already warned that this will be the last extension of the agreement if the parties involved – the UN, Ukraine and Turkey – do not guarantee the export of Russian fertilizers and other agricultural products from Russia.