Russia Ready to Revive Grain Deal 'Immediately' When All Agreements Implemented, Putin Says
15:43 04.09.2023 (Updated: 16:54 04.09.2023)
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On Monday, in the Russian city of Sochi, the presidents of Russia and Turkey held bilateral talks. The first part of the negotiations was held with the participation of members of the delegations. Then the leaders of the countries continued the discussion over lunch.
Russia will be ready to revive the Black Sea Grain Deal and will do it as soon as all negotiated agreements are fulfilled, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday.
“I would like to reaffirm our principled position; we will be ready to consider the possibility of reviving the grain deal. I told the president about this again today. And we will do this as soon as all the agreements recorded in it are fully implemented,” Putin said following the results negotiations with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Moreover, Russia, despite all the obstacles, intends to continue exporting food and fertilizers, help stabilize prices and improve the situation in the global agricultural sector, Putin stressed.
"Despite all the obstacles, Russia intends to continue exporting food and fertilizers, contribute to price stabilization and improve the situation in the global agricultural sector," he commented.
Moscow will be ready to revive grain deal immediately after the fulfillment of the part of the grain deal obligations concerning Russia, the president added.
"I would like to reiterate our principled position, we will be ready to consider the possibility of reviving the grain deal. I told the president about it again today. And we will do it as soon as all the agreements in the deal are fully implemented," Putin said.
Russian president went on to say that grain supply negotiations with six African countries are almost completed.
"We are close to completing agreements with six African countries, where we intend to supply food for free, and even carry out delivery, logistics for free, deliver this cargo," he noted.
Russia is expecting a good grain harvest, the export potential will remain at the level of 60 million tons, Putin said.
“We will have a good harvest this year, about 158 million tons last year, this year about 130 (million tons - ed.) The export potential will also remain somewhere around 60 million (tons) - ed.),” he mentioned.
Furthermore, the Russian president noted that Moscow continues to organize the supply of 1 million tons of grain at a preferential price for processing in Turkey and further transportation to the poorest countries; in this matter, Russia is counting on the support of Qatar.
Putin referred to the relations between Russia and Turkey, saying that they are developing successfully in all areas, the meeting was successful.
"The cooperation between Russia and Turkey, which is based on the principles of good neighborliness, partnership and mutual benefit, is successfully developing in all areas. Today's talks, as always, were held in a constructive and businesslike atmosphere," Putin said.
Putin said that during the talks they "examined in detail all the key issues of Russian-Turkish cooperation in the field of security, economics, politics, cultural and humanitarian spheres, and exchanged views on topical issues on the international and regional agenda."
Besides, Russia is ready to fully meet Turkey's needs for grain, Putin said.
Besides, Russia is ready to fully meet Turkey's needs for grain, Putin said.
"Turkey is our great partner. Turkey has a large flour processing industry, we know this, we will fully meet the needs of the Republic of Turkey," he said.
Russia's withdrawal from the grain deal has not affected the global food markets, grain prices are declining, and there is no evidence of food shortage.
"It is obvious that the termination of the implementation of the deal has not affected global food markets," the president stated.
Grain prices continue to decline, there is no shortage of food, the president added.
"There are problems with its fair distribution. That is a problem, yes. But this has nothing to do with the grain deal," Putin mentioned.
He added that grain prices continue to decline and there is no physical shortage of food.
"There are problems with its fair distribution. Yes, but this has nothing to do with the so-called grain deal," Putin noted.
The head of the Russian state went on to say that all this is not surprising, since Ukraine's share in world grain exports "as it was 5%, and remains so, and in the current conditions it will decrease."
The grain deal ceased on July 18, Russia notified Turkey, Ukraine and the UN of its objection to its extension. The Russian president previously noted that the terms of the deal with Russia were not kept, despite the efforts of the UN, because Western countries were not going to keep their promises.
After the cessation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative and the curtailment of the maritime humanitarian corridor, all ships en route to Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea are considered as potential carriers of military cargo from July 20 and are considered involved in the Ukrainian conflict on the side of the Kiev regime, the Russian Ministry of Defense stated at the time.
Later on, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres sent a letter to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov with a proposal to resume the grain deal. The letter purportedly "sums up previous UN ideas that didn't work." The UN has not received an official response from the Russian foreign ministry to Guterres’ letter, in which he put forward proposals for resuming the Black Sea initiative, Secretary General’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric said at a briefing.
In turn, Lavrov said that Russia would immediately return to the grain deal as soon as all points of the Russia-UN memorandum were fulfilled; Guterres’ new proposals contained promises, but no guarantees of this. Lavrov also said that the UN Secretary General spoke about his new initiatives on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Johannesburg in late August.
Later on, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres sent a letter to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov with a proposal to resume the grain deal. The letter purportedly "sums up previous UN ideas that didn't work." The UN has not received an official response from the Russian foreign ministry to Guterres’ letter, in which he put forward proposals for resuming the Black Sea initiative, Secretary General’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric said at a briefing.
In turn, Lavrov said that Russia would immediately return to the grain deal as soon as all points of the Russia-UN memorandum were fulfilled; Guterres’ new proposals contained promises, but no guarantees of this. Lavrov also said that the UN Secretary General spoke about his new initiatives on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Johannesburg in late August.
Putin has repeatedly pointed out that the West exported most of the Ukrainian grain to the deloped states, and the main goal of the deal - the supply of grain to needy countries, including African ones - was never realized.
