ANKARA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th April, 2023) Exports of Russian grain products to developing countries will not suffer if the grain deal is terminated, as Moscow will work outside the initiative, if necessary, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday.
"If they have no desire to approach honestly what (UN Secretary-General) Mr. (Antonio) Guterres suggested and so insistently promoted, well, let them continue to ship the relevant products from Ukraine by land, overland, by rail, by rivers ... We will work outside this initiative, if we have to. Our exports to the countries in need will not suffer," Lavrov said at a press conference after the talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
Russia was able to work with Turkey, Qatar and other states on grain exports outside the framework of the deal, the minister also stated, adding that relevant plans were being discussed.
The Black Sea Grain Initiative, also known as the Initiative on the Safe Transportation of Grain and Foodstuffs from Ukrainian ports, signed between Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Nations in July 2022, provides for the exports of Ukrainian grain, food and fertilizers over the Black Sea from three ports, including Odesa. The package agreement also includes a memorandum of understanding between Russia and the UN to unblock Russian grain and fertilizer exports via the Black Sea, which, according to Moscow, has not been implemented amid Western sanctions.
In March, Russia extended the deal for 60 of possible 120 days. Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said that most of the ships carrying Ukrainian grain did not reach the world's poorest countries and ended up in Europe.
