US’ Claims on Grain Deal Deceitful, Ignore its ‘Package’ Nature — Russian Envoy to US

"The statements of the representatives of the administration are outrageous. Instead of calmly and without politicizing fixing the successful completion of the consultations in Istanbul, local officials again rushed to criticize the Russian Federation in every possible way," Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov said

Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov Valery Sharufulin/TASS

© Valery Sharufulin/TASS

WASHINGTON, May 18. /TASS/. Statements by US authorities on the grain deal are blatant lies and Washington intentionally forgets about the "package" nature of these agreements, Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov said on Wednesday.

"The statements of the representatives of the administration are outrageous. Instead of calmly and without politicizing fixing the successful completion of the consultations in Istanbul, local officials again rushed to criticize the Russian Federation in every possible way. Accuse us of allegedly creating artificial obstacles in the way of grain shipments to the poorest states. The notorious theses about the weaponization of hunger again went into play," the Russian Embassy’s Telegram channel quoted him as commenting on the reaction by US authorities to the extension of the Black Sea initiative.

"Such comments are not just a distortion of facts, but outright deception. Washington deliberately forgets about the ‘package’ nature of the ‘Istanbul agreements.’ About the specific requirements laid down in the Russia-UN memorandum that are not being met. We mean the restoration of the admission of Russian ships to foreign ports, the normalization of the situation with the insurance of dry cargo ships, the removal of barriers to the sale of agricultural equipment and technologies to our country, the reconnection of Rosselkhozbank to the SWIFT system, the launch of the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline," the envoy explained.

"Moreover, the Americans are again turning the data of deliveries geography upside down. To put it mildly, the statement that Ukrainian grain goes to needy states is not true. Only 2.5% of the 30 million tons of cargo went to indeed hungry. But domestic products are delayed for many months in western harbors, even if we are talking about gratuitous humanitarian flights," the diplomat asserted.

"Instead of empty slogans that are clearly aimed at ‘pricking’ Russia, we would recommend that Washington work more actively to correct the imbalances in the global food market that have arisen due to their unilateral sanctions and political demands. Only in this way, with full consideration of Russian interests, will it be possible to talk about the prospects for transferring the ‘Black Sea Initiative,’ as the White House put it, onto a sustainable basis," Antonov added.

Grain deal extended

On Wednesday, Jake Sullivan, the White House’s national security adviser said that Washington was satisfied with the extension of the grain deal but insisted to preserve it on a sustainable basis. He also claimed that "Russia continues even in a moment of extension to rhetorically hold it hostage in various ways, to suggest its days are numbered."

On May 17, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that the grain deal had been extended by 60 days. Later, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Moscow confirmed the extension, explaining that this move will help ensure global food security.

On July 22, 2022, a set of documents on supplies of food and fertilizers to the international market was signed in Istanbul. Initially, the agreements were concluded for 120 days and in November 2022, the deal was extended for the same number of days. On March 18, Russia announced the extension of the grain deal for 60 days, saying this would be enough time to assess the effectiveness of the memorandum signed with the UN.

The delegations of Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the UN held talks in Istanbul on May 10-11. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin told reporters after the meeting that the Black Sea Grain Initiative would cease to exist unless Russia received guarantees by May 18 that its demands would be met. The demands particularly concern the export of agricultural goods and fertilizers and the reconnection of the Russian Agricultural bank to the SWIFT system.