Russia sees no progress in meeting its demands regarding implementation of the Black sea grain initiative, said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov after his talks with United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
(Bloomberg) — Russia sees no progress in meeting its demands regarding implementation of the Black sea grain initiative, said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov after his talks with United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
“We don’t see a will from Western countries to implement what is necessary to achieve a successful realization” of the Secretary General’s initiative for a packaged approach to agricultural-product exports from Ukraine and Russia, Lavrov said after they met Monday to discuss the war and the Black Sea deal.
Russia has previously threatened to pull out of the UN-mediated grain pact, if restrictions on its own grain and fertilizer exports aren’t resolved by mid-May. The UN says the deal is vital to ensuring global food supplies.
Guterres gave Lavrov a letter for President Vladimir Putin, “outlining a proposed way forward aimed at the improvement, extension and expansion of the deal,” according to a UN readout. Lavrov said it would be studied. Guterres also sent letters to leaders of Turkey and Ukraine, other parties to the pact.
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