Russia on Monday said it wanted to adjust the Black Sea grain initiative to ensure more food supplies go to the world’s poorest countries in Africa and Asia.
Remarks by Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin came a day after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan discussed the grain export agreement with his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts, as both sides seek changes that would boost their exports.
Türkiye has acted as a mediator alongside the United Nations in the grain deal, which opened up Ukrainian ports for exports after a six-month de facto Russian blockade.
Moscow is seeking better guarantees for its own food and fertilizer exports, while Kyiv wants the deal expanded to increase the number of Ukrainian ports it opens for shipping.
Vershinin on Monday reiterated Moscow’s concerns that grain leaving Ukraine under the agreement is going to “sufficiently developed, wealthy countries” and not poorer nations that need it most.
“This agreement was made to ensure food security of the poorest countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Unfortunately, the figures do not confirm that most of the grain has been going to these countries. At this point, we think adjustments need to be made,” Vershinin told reporters after a meeting with Turkish officials in Istanbul.
After his call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Turkish Presidency said Erdoğan had called for a quick end to the conflict and said Moscow could start work on exporting more food products and commodities through the Black Sea grain corridor.
Russia has urged the U.N. to push the West to lift some sanctions, to ensure Moscow can freely export its fertilizer and agricultural products – a part of the Black Sea grain deal that Moscow says has not been implemented.
“The deal is of complex character, which requires the removal of obstacles for the relevant supplies from Russia in order to meet the demands of the countries most in need,” the Kremlin said in a statement.
Vershinin called on the international community to honor its word of lifting curbs on Russian agricultural and fertilizer exports. He stressed that the landmark grain deal, agreed in July and extended last month, “consists of two parts.”
“The first is a four-sided agreement on the export of grain from Ukraine through the humanitarian sea corridor. This part is being implemented quite well,” Vershinin told reporters after a meeting with Turkish officials in Istanbul.
However, he emphasized, there is need for progress on the second part of the agreement, which relates to “providing access to agricultural products and fertilizers from Russia.”
“For now, we have not achieved any significant results in this regard,” he said.
Vershinin pointed out that the United States and European Union have failed to fulfill their promises of excluding Russian food products from sanctions.
“There has been no progress on this issue for a long time. There is still a large gap between statements and real deeds. Our partners must overcome this gap,” he said.
To a question, he said there were no discussions on a proposal to send Russian wheat to Türkiye, where it could be processed into flour and sent to other countries.
“This scenario was not discussed. If something can be done to improve the situation in the countries in need, of course, we will take such initiatives,” he said.
“We can do this with Türkiye as well since Türkiye plays a quite significant role in the implementation of the grain deal. We can be quite optimistic at this point,” he added.
For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Twitter he had “discussed further work & possible expansion of the grain corridor” with Erdoğan.
Ukraine and Russia are both among the world’s largest grain producers and exporters. Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian ports following its invasion threatened to cause a global food crisis earlier this year, which was mitigated by the Turkish-brokered deal that unblocked Ukrainian shipments at the end of July.
