MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia is pessimistic about the prospects of renewing the Black Sea grain deal because no progress has been made in implementing accompanying agreements that pertain to Russian exports, the Kremlin said on Monday.
The Financial Times reported on Monday that the European Union was considering a proposal for the Russian Agricultural Bank to set up a subsidiary to reconnect to the global financial network, as an incentive for Moscow to extend the deal.
The deal, under which Russia has guaranteed the safety of grain ships heading to and from Ukrainian ports through waters it controls, is set to expire on July 18 and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a briefing there were “not too many hopes” it would be extended.
When the deal was signed in July 2022, the United Nations and Russia also signed a memorandum of understanding committing the U.N. to facilitate unimpeded access of Russian fertiliser and other products to global markets.
To fulfil the memorandum, Russia says several conditions must be met, including the readmission of the Russian Agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank) to the Belgian-based international banking payment system, SWIFT.
Asked to comment on the FT report, Peskov said: “So far we have nothing to report on the implementation of that part of the agreement that concerned the Russian side.
“For the time being, we state that this part of the agreements is still not fulfilled. There is still time for the deadline to expire, but there is not much hope.”
Rosselkhozbank did not respond to a Reuters request for comment on the FT report, or on the status of any talks with the EU.
(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Kevin Liffey; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
