Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The director of the Federal Security Service (FSB) of Russia, Alexander Bortnikov, said that the corridors created under the grain deal for the export of raw materials from Ukraine are being used for other purposes. He explained what was actually happening at a meeting of the Council of Heads of Security Agencies and Special Services of the CIS Member States on June 1 in Minsk.
“ The grain corridors created as part of the Black Sea initiative are being used to cover up attacks on the Russian coast,” Bortnikov was quoted by TASS.
The grain deal for a period of 120 days was agreed upon in July 2022 and has been extended several times. It consists of two agreements, one of which regulates the export of Ukrainian grain, the second - the access of Russian agricultural products and fertilizers to world markets.
In March 2023, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov announced that the deal had been extended for 120 days, but the Russian Foreign Ministry insisted that it was only for 60, while Moscow repeatedly pointed out that its conditions under the deal were not being met.
IA Regnum reported that on May 17, the Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed the extension of the grain deal for two months with the requirement to eliminate distortions in its implementation.
According to the official representative of the department, Maria Zakharova, the fundamental assessments of the agreements in 2022 have not changed, so the distortions must be eliminated as quickly as possible. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke about the further fate of the grain agreement following his visit to Kenya . He stated that if everything remains as it is now, then it will have to be said that the grain deal no longer works.
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UN: Russia has restricted the registration of ships in the port of Yuzhny
Moscow has notified the Joint Coordinating Center of restricting the registration of ships in the port of Yuzhny due to the refusal to export ammonia, said the official representative of the UN Secretary-General Stephane Dujarric.
"Russia has informed the SCC about the decision to limit the registration of ships to the Yuzhny port until ammonia is exported," he said.
According to Dujarric, the UN is concerned about the slowdown in the execution of the Black Sea grain deal.
"We will continue to cooperate in order to fully resume operations and continue the work of the initiative. We expect that (the parties. - Note ed.) will commit themselves to the admission of vessels to all three ports without preconditions, to increase the number of successful inspections per day, predictable registration (for the passage of ships. - Approx. ed.), on the export of fertilizers, including ammonia, and the resumption (work. - Approx. ed.) of the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline," the representative of the organization emphasized.
In July last year, representatives of Russia , Ukraine, Turkey and the UN signed a package of documents defining the algorithm for the export of Ukrainian agricultural products from the Black Sea ports and providing for the removal of restrictions on the export of Russian food and fertilizers to world markets. Moscow has repeatedly noted that Ukrainian grain is sent primarily to Europe, and not to needy African countries, and the deal does not work with Russian products.
In mid-May, the Foreign Ministry announced that the deal had been extended without changes until July 17. As explained in the ministry, if five problems concerning the Russia-UN memorandum are not resolved within two months, the agreement will be terminated. We are talking about reconnecting Rosselkhozbank to SWIFT, resuming supplies of agricultural machinery and spare parts, resuscitating the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline, unblocking transport logistics and insurance, and unfreezing the assets of Russian companies.
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