Putin to consider extending grain deal, sets conditions

This is reported by RBC.

"We will continue. Exactly at the moment when the promises made to us are fulfilled," he said, referring to the situation with the grain deal.

Putin also said that he had not seen a letter from UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres regarding the grain deal.

At the same time, Reuters, citing its own sources, notes that the situation with Rosselkhozbank, which the UN Secretary General promised Putin to connect to SWIFT, will remain unchanged, but its subsidiary has a chance to do so.

The European Union is studying the possibility of connecting Rosselkhozbank's subsidiary to the SWIFT international transfer system to extend the grain deal beyond July 17.

According to the agency's sources, the EU is not ready to reconnect Rosselkhozbank to SWIFT directly, as Russia had previously insisted. But the EU does not rule out the possibility of connecting its subsidiary to the system.

Some details about the grain deal

The agreement, known as the Black Sea Grain Initiative, was concluded between Russia and Ukraine with the mediation of the UN and Turkey in July 2022 in Istanbul. It has since been extended several times.

In January, the Ministry of Infrastructure said that as a result of Russian actions in the Bosphorus, the world loses millions of tons of Ukrainian food every month. The occupiers are hampering the inspection of ships that export grain to third world countries.

In March 2023, the Russian Federation informed the parties that the agreement would be extended for only 60 days instead of 120. These agreements were due to expire on May 18.

To extend it, the Russians demanded:

• reconnecting Rosselkhozbank to SWIFT
• resumption of supply of agricultural machinery, spare parts and service
• lifting restrictions on insurance and reinsurance plus lifting the ban on access to ports
• resumption of the Togliatti-Odesa ammonia pipeline
• unblocking foreign assets and accounts of Russian companies related to the production and transportation of food and fertilizers.

On May 17, the grain deal was extended for 60 days. The Russians' demands were not met.

Doubts about the continuation of the grain deal were also voiced in the UK on July 4.

On June 5, the Russian Federation said it saw no prospects for extending the agreement in July, and on June 22, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said it did not see the Russians' readiness to continue the grain initiative.

On July 5, the UN announced its readiness to send a representative to Moscow to "save the grain deal."

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has offered Russian President Putin to extend the grain deal in exchange for reconnecting Rosselkhozbank to SWIFT. The Kremlin had demanded this earlier

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on July 8 that his country is working on extending the grain deal for two years.

On July 12, Turkey’s Erdogan said that he had received proposals from Putin to extend the grain deal.

Ukraine is looking for alternative ways to supply grain to Africa, Europe and Asia.

On June 23, Ukraine announced it would participate in the construction of a grain terminal in Nigeria.