A resumption of the grain deal remains possible, but only if all Russian conditions are met. Russian President Vladimir Putin stated this on Wednesday.
Russia and Ukraine signed a grain agreement in July last year after mediation by the United Nations and Turkey. Despite the war, the agreement allowed grain and other foodstuffs from Russia and Ukraine to be shipped via the Black Sea. But Russia decided on Monday not to renew that deal.
“As soon as all the conditions that we previously agreed upon are met, we will immediately return to the agreement,” Putin told the Interfax news agency at a government meeting on Wednesday. The Russian conditions must be complied with “without exception and in full”; otherwise, an extension of the deal “is of no use”, it sounds.
Moscow accuses Western countries of failing to respect Russian fertilizer and food export agreements. Those exports would be affected by the international sanctions against Russia.
In addition, Moscow is also demanding that Russian banks and financial institutions be reconnected to the international SWIFT banking system. Finally, Russia is asking for the pipeline between the Russian city of Togliatti and the Ukrainian port of Odesa to be put back into operation.
The approximately 2,400-kilometer-long pipeline, used for the export of ammonia and fertilizers, has been out of use since the beginning of the war and was hit by an explosion in June.
