Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday discussed with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan the possibility of supplying grain to countries in need “without depending on the obstructive actions of Kyiv and Western countries,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
As Remix News recently reported, the last ship to sail under the UN-brokered agreement to allow the safe export of Ukrainian grain to the Black Sea left the port of Odessa early on Sunday morning, ahead of the Monday deadline for the extension of the agreement.
“As an alternative to the Black Sea initiative, the ministers discussed options for the supply of grain to the countries most in need, which options are not dependent on the undermining work of Kyiv and its Western masters,” the Russian diplomatic service said in a statement.
The parties also discussed regional developments, with a special focus on the latest developments in Ukraine. Moscow and Ankara agreed to continue the talks, the ministry added.
They also discussed joint work under the Black Sea Grains Initiative.
“Lavrov confirmed that the implementation of the grains agreement has been suspended as of July 18 due to non-compliance with the part of the Russia-UN agreement concerning the Russian side, in particular the blocking of Russian bank transfers, as well as insurance and transport logistics, the freezing of the country’s foreign assets, and the obstruction of access of its agricultural products and fertilizers to global markets,” the Russian ministry announced.
It added that the agreement had “effectively lost its humanitarian character” as it was “openly used by Kyiv for commercial purposes.”
In practice, this means the withdrawal of security guarantees on the northwestern shipping lanes of the Black Sea, the abolition of the maritime humanitarian corridor, and the joint coordination center in Istanbul, the Russian ministry stated, adding that the talks were initiated by the Turkish side.
