Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko has noted unsatisfactory efforts being taken to release Russian exports of food and fertilizers under the grain deal, adding that the European Union comes up short on its promises.
"The work is being carried out unsatisfactorily. Though the European Commission has provided an explanation that those sanctions that were imposed against Russian agricultural operators, do not work, concerning both transportation and production, but in reality, they left the whole package of sanctions in force. It’s up to the states how to apply them or not to apply them," he told reporters on Wednesday.
"And in practice, we see that the promises that were made to us, the assurances that were provided by the EU mainly to the UN Secretary General, who actively joined efforts to organize the second part of the Istanbul package, those assurances do not work," Grushko explained.
In particular, this also applies to trade in fertilizers that are still in Western ports, the official noted. "This also concerns the issues of insurance, logistics, issues of our ships’ entry. This concerns servicing of deals by Rosselkhozbank, which is the key financial operator in this area. It has been cut off from SWIFT. As far as I know, even test transactions have failed. And it not only creates huge obstacles for trade in agricultural goods, but also worsens the state of food security," he emphasized, adding that the majority of grain and other agricultural products flow to EU countries.
