Russia again threatens to quit Black Sea Grain Initiative
The Russian Foreign Ministry has once again threatened not to extend the Black Sea Grain Initiative if Moscow's conditions are not met, Russia state media RIA Novosti reports.
Sergei Vershinin, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister, said if the consensus on the grain agreement would not be reached by 18 May with Russian requirements taken into account, it will cease to exist.
As he states, "there is no progress in the issue of reconnecting Rosselkhozbank to SWIFT, skeptical assessments are heard from the UN."
The representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry said that the state allegedly continues to face barriers in the export of agricultural products and "cannot tolerate hypocrisy and double standards."
On May 11, two-day negotiations at the level of deputy ministers of defense regarding the "grain agreement" ended in Istanbul.
"The parties agreed to continue at the technical level in a quadrilateral format the efforts, for which the platform is provided by Turkey, to ensure the effective operation of the "grain initiative" in the near future," the statement said.
