Part of grain deal not being implemented, says Kremlin

MOSCOW (AA) – The Kremlin has said that the Istanbul grain deal is only partially being implemented because while grain shipment from Ukraine via the Black Sea is being carried out, Russian grain exports are not allowed.

Speaking at a press briefing in Moscow, Dmitry Peskov said the work is underway to prepare a meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin aiming to discuss the full implementation of the grain deal.

The meeting is expected to take place in the Uzbek city of Samarkand on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit scheduled for September 15-16.

Peskov further said that grain shipments from Ukraine did not go to poor countries, saying: “Only two grain ships went to countries defined as poor by the United Nations.”

Although the Russian food products and fertilizers are not under sanctions, the means of their transportation are, the spokesman added.

“De facto export of Russian food and fertilizers to international markets is extremely difficult and very limited due to the sanctions of (Russian) merchant ships that cannot enter ports, they are not insured, they are not accepted, they are not serviced,” he said.

The logistical problems were supposed to be addressed under the grain deal, which is a “subject for a special conversation,” Peskov said.

“When the countries agreed on this scheme, the unblocking of the situation in the Black Sea, the provision of assistance to this process was linked to the unblocking of access of Russian products to international markets.

“One Black Sea side of this agreement, with the direct participation of the Russian Federation and with the very, very valuable mediation efforts of the Republic of Türkiye, was solved. The second part was not solved. This is a subject for a special conversation,” he said.

Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine had signed an agreement on July 22 in Istanbul to resume grain exports from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports, which were paused after the Russia-Ukraine war began in February. A Joint Coordination Center with officials from the three countries and the UN has been set up in Istanbul to oversee the shipments.