Ankara does not consider Moscow’s claims on how the grain deal is implemented unfounded, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in an interview with the Hurriyet newspaper on Friday.
“We are negotiating the grain deal’s extension. The issue is to be solved, with agreements extended. The Russians have extended the deal for 60 days so far. They want their expectations to be satisfied. We cannot say that the Russian side is wrong [that claims are unfounded],” he said.
Turkey is still in negotiations with the deal’s participants, the minister said, adding that “the issue of Turkish banks’ mediation in payments for Russian grain and fertilizers is on the agenda.”
“UN Secretary-General [Antonio Guterres] is perfectly aware of the situation. And we are explaining it to the US and the UK as both those countries are key in banking issues. Connecting Russian Agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank – TASS) to SWIFT is linked with them. After all, what was promised to Russia under the deal has never been implemented,” Cavusoglu said, noting that “it is necessary to be fair” on Russia’s expectations. The idea of attracting Turkish banks to the system of payments for Russian food emanates from UN Secretary-General, the minister added.
Agreements on the export of food from Ukraine were concluded on July 22, 2022, for 120 days and extended in November for the same period. One of the agreements regulates the order of grain supplies from the Kiev-controlled ports of Odessa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny. Moreover, a memorandum was inked by Russia and the UN on lifting export restrictions for Russian agricultural products and fertilizers to global markets. Moscow notes that the second part of the agreement is not being implemented.
On March 18, Russia announced that the deal was being extended for 60 days, warning that this would be enough time to assess the efficacy of the memorandum signed with the UN. The Russian Foreign Ministry also noted that the future decision on the deal’s extension would depend on connection of Rosselkhozbank back to SWIFT, resumption of supplies of agriculture equipment, components and service maintenance, lifting of restrictions on insurance and reinsurance, lifting of the ban on access to ports, resumption of the work of Tolyatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline, unfreezing of foreign assets and accounts of Russian companies related to production and transportation of food and fertilizers.
