Russia Saturday rejected a proposal by the United Nations and said it was sticking to its conditions for a return to the Black Sea grain deal which it quit in July.
In particular, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia needed its state agricultural bank – and not a subsidiary of the bank, as proposed by the United Nations – to be reconnected to the international SWIFT bank payments system.
"All our conditions are perfectly well known. They do not need interpretation, they are absolutely concrete and all this is absolutely achievable," Peskov said.
"Therefore, Russia maintains its responsible, clear and consistent position, which has been repeatedly voiced by the president."
The Black Sea deal was brokered by Türkiye and the United Nations in July 2022 to enable Ukraine to export grain by sea despite the war and help ease a global food crisis.
It was accompanied by an agreement to facilitate Russia's own exports of food and fertilizer, which Moscow says has not been fulfilled.
Since quitting the grain deal in mid-July, Russia has repeatedly bombed Ukrainian ports and grain stores, prompting Kyiv and the West to accuse it of using food as a weapon.
Banking issue
Moscow's uncompromising restatement of its position came five days after President Vladimir Putin met his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and discussed the grain issue.
Russia appears to have drawn encouragement from Erdoğan's statement at that meeting that Ukraine should "soften its approaches" in talks over reviving the deal, and exporting more grain to Africa rather than Europe.
Ukraine said it would not alter its stand and would not be hostage to "Russian blackmail."
Russia says its grain and fertilizer exports, though not specifically sanctioned by the West, face barriers in practice because of sanctions affecting port access, insurance, logistics and payments – including the removal of agricultural bank Rosselkhozbank from SWIFT.
The U.N. has proposed that a Luxembourg-based subsidiary of Rosselkhozbank could immediately apply to SWIFT to "effectively enable access" for the bank within 30 days.
"The agreements say that SWIFT should be open to Rosselkhozbank, and not to its subsidiary. That is, we are talking about the need to return to the basics, to the agreements that were in place originally and which we were promised would be fulfilled," Peskov said.
"The president clearly said that the moment they are fulfilled, then the deal will immediately resume. But not vice versa," he added.
Russian 'cynicism'
Separately, the European Union on Saturday castigated Russia for pulling out of the grain deal, calling its offer of a million tons of grain to African countries a "parody of generosity."
Charles Michel, president of the European Council, told the annual G-20 summit in New Delhi that the 2022 grain accord had delivered to vulnerable countries over 30 times the volume offered to Africa by Russia.
"And what cynicism... you did not accept this," Michel said in comments directed at the Russian summit representative, Moscow's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
"Not only have you decided to pull out of this agreement on the Black Sea, but at the same time you are attacking the port infrastructure," Michel said.
"To add insult to injury, Russia is offering 1 million tons of grain to African countries in a parody of generosity," he said, adding: "What cynicism and contempt for African countries."
Erdoğan held talks with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the sidelines of the G-20 summit regarding efforts to revive the deal, two sources with knowledge of the matter said, without giving further details.
The news followed Erdoğan's remarks this week that it could be possible to revive the deal, urging Ukraine to soften its negotiating position and export more grain to Africa rather than Europe, although Ukraine opposes the idea of easing sanctions.
"Japan as a G-7 (2023) presidency is ready to make a positive contribution in the discussion," Hikariko Ono, press secretary at Japan's foreign ministry, said on Saturday. "But I cannot reveal all the concrete efforts made by Prime Minister Kishida."
The leaders declaration agreed by the G-20 nations on Saturday called for ensuring "the immediate and unimpeded deliveries of grain...to meet the demand in developing and least developed countries, particularly those in Africa."
"Japan is also very much interested in (the) resumption of the Black Sea grain initiative," Ono said, adding that this would ensure food security worldwide.