Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov threatened on Friday in Ankara to suspend the agreement to export Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea if the sale of Russian agricultural products continues to be hindered.
“If there is no progress in lifting the barriers to Russian fertilizer and grain exports, then we will ask ourselves if such an agreement is necessary,” Lavrov threatened after a meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlüt Cavusoglu.
The pact, which allowed the export of more than 25 million tons of cereals to date, was extended on March 19. But Moscow proposed that the text be extended for 60 days and not 120, as was initially tacitly agreed.
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The Kremlin assures that the part of the agreement that allows it to export its own food and fertilizers is not respected.
In theory, these essential products for global agriculture cannot be targeted by the Western sanctions imposed on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. But in practice, these exports continue to face a series of obstacles from banks.
According to the Turkish minister, “the United States and the United Kingdom took measures regarding payments and insurance, but there are still problems. Some banks did not do enough.”
In addition, “measures were taken to resend Russian ammonia and fertilizers from Western countries to African countries, but the problem is not resolved,” he continued.
Lavrov denounced on the other hand the inequality of Ukrainian exports between rich and poor countries.
According to the Joint Coordination Center, which is in charge of monitoring the agreement, 56% of exports went to developing countries and 5.7% to less advanced countries, which have more than 12% of the population. world.
During his visit to Turkey, Lavrov will also meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is campaigning to be re-elected on May 14, a Turkish official told AFP.
Russia and Türkiye act hand in hand in various international affairs. Before Lavrov’s arrival in Ankara, Moscow actually stressed the importance of “synchronizing the clocks” between the two countries.
