President Vladimir Putin levelled accusations on Wednesday, claiming that Western countries had manipulated the expired Black Sea grain deal for their own interests. However, he stated that Russia would be willing to return to the agreement if all its conditions were met.
On Monday, Moscow withdrew from the deal, which had allowed Ukraine to export grain from its Black Sea ports despite the ongoing conflict, in an effort to alleviate a global food crisis.
Russia’s decision was influenced by their assertion that a parallel memorandum, aimed at facilitating their own grain and fertilizer exports in response to Western sanctions following the invasion of Ukraine, had been disregarded.
Putin reiterated that Russia would only resume the deal if the West fulfilled its five key demands, which he outlined as follows:
- The readmission of the Russian Agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank) to the SWIFT payment system.
- The resumption of exports of agricultural machinery and spare parts to Russia.
- The removal of restrictions on insurance and access to ports for Russian ships and cargo.
- The reinstatement of a damaged ammonia export pipeline from Russia’s Togliatti to Odesa in Ukraine.
- The unblocking of accounts and financial activities of Russian fertilizer companies.
Putin emphasized that if these conditions, which were agreed upon previously, were met, Russia would promptly return to the deal.
Additionally, Russia’s Defense Ministry announced that it would now consider all vessels heading to Ukrainian ports as potential carriers of military cargo.
Furthermore, Russia’s Foreign Ministry granted the United Nations, along with Turkey, which brokered the grain deal, a three-month window to implement the terms of the memorandum if they wished for Russia to reconsider its participation in the grain deal.
Moscow maintains that it conducted a “special military operation” to safeguard Russia’s security by preventing Ukraine from being used as a threat against them. However, Ukraine and its Western allies dismiss this claim as a baseless pretext for territorial expansion.
