Russia to announce decision to extend grain deal soon

Soon, Russia will announce a decision to extend the grain agreement, which allows exports from Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea and ends on the 17th.

The Kremlin “still has time” to fulfill the terms of the agreement, concluded with the mediation of the UN and Turkey, namely in terms of obligations to the Russian side.

“We will report on our decision in due time. There is still time. At this time, there is also time to fulfill that part of the agreements that concerns our country,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

The spokesman reiterated that the memorandum agreed between Russia and the UN on facilitating Russian exports of food and fertilizers has not yet been implemented, and therefore “unfortunately, there is no reason to extend the agreement.”

On Tuesday, Russia announced that ships carrying grain from Ukrainian ports must leave the Black Sea before the Istanbul Agreement expires on the 17th, after reiterating that there were no grounds for a further extension of the treaty.

Russia’s requirements for maintaining the initiative are the connection of its agricultural bank Rosselkhozbank to the SWIFT international banking system, the lifting of sanctions on spare parts for agricultural machinery, the unblocking of logistics and transport insurance, the unfreezing of assets and the resumption of activity on the Togliatti-Odessa oil pipeline that exploded on June 5.

On Monday, Russian diplomatic spokeswoman Maria Zakharova criticized rumors that the European Union may agree to the creation of a subsidiary of Rosselkhozbank to connect it to SWIFT, saying it ignores the fact that the creation of a subsidiary of the bank will take a long time. process.

For this reason, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced the scheme, saying it would be “notoriously irresistible”, stating that its only purpose would be to pressure Russia to once again extend the grain agreement.