UN Fails to Persuade Russia to Return to Black Sea Grain Deal; Kremlin Sticking to Original Demand

The UN is trying to persuade Russia to return to the Black Sea Grain deal. However, the Kremlin confirmed that it will stick to its original demand.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov explained why Russia decided to reject the offer of the United Nations.

UN Fails to Persuade Russia to Return to Black Sea Grain Deal

(Photo: SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP via Getty Images) A combine harvests wheat at a field near Kivshovata village, Kyiv region on July 18, 2023. Known as the world's "bread basket", Ukraine grows far more wheat than it consumes and its exports contribute to global food security, especially in African countries, which now fear food shortages.

Recently, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that Russia would be eligible to apply for membership and access to the SWIFT banking system.

Guterres explained that the Russian Agricultural Bank's subsidiary, RSHB Capital S.A., will have immediate access to the SWIFT banking system within 30 days.

Unfortunately, Peskov said that they don't want the state agricultural bank and not its subsidiary to be reconnected to the SWIFT bank payments system.

"All our conditions are perfectly well known. They do not need interpretation, they are absolutely concrete and all this is absolutely achievable," the Kremlin official said via Reuters.

"Therefore Russia maintains its responsible, clear, and consistent position, which has been repeatedly voiced by the president," he added.

UN's Effort to Persuade Russia

(Photo: OLEKSANDR GIMANOV/AFP via Getty Images) The first UN-chartered vessel MV Brave Commander loads more than 23,000 tonnes of grain to export to Ethiopia, in Yuzhne, east of Odessa on the Black Sea coast, on August 14, 2022. - On July 22, 2022, Kyiv and Moscow signed a landmark deal with Turkey to unblock Black Sea grain deliveries, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

According to VOA News, Guterres told Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that the United States is ready to give the mentioned incentives to the subsidiary of Russia's state agricultural bank if the country returns to the Black Sea Grain deal.

But, Lavrov expressed his skepticism about the proposals made by the UN chief. He said that the United States is just giving a new dose of promises to Russia instead of providing actual exemptions from sanctions.

He added that the offered incentives don't contain any new elements, saying that they can't be considered as a foundation for making any tangible progress when it comes to returning agricultural exports back to normal.

Russian President Vladimir Putin decided to exit the Black Sea Initiative because he believes that the deal's second part, which allow for greater Russian agricultural exports, was not honored by the West.

Right now, Russia is still showing no signs of interest in returning to the Black Sea Grain deal.