September 6 (Reuters) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday accused the West of not honoring its promise to help Russia export its food and fertilizers to world markets, one of the conditions of the agreement concluded between Moscow and Ukraine on the resumption of grain exports.
Sergei Lavrov criticized the West for not having relaxed the sanctions against Russia, thus preventing it from exporting its agricultural products more easily.
Moscow sees this commitment as a key element of the agreement with Kyiv reached in July under the aegis of the United Nations and Turkey to end the blockade of Ukrainian grain exports, a consequence of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February.
“Our Western colleagues are not doing what the UN Secretary General promised us,” Sergei Lavrov told a press conference in Moscow.
“They are not taking decisions to lift the logistical sanctions that prevent free access of Russian grain and fertilizers to world markets.”
Moscow says the sanctions, while not directly targeting food and fertilizer products, are making it more difficult to transport and insure its cargoes.
Sergei Lavrov said he was in contact with the United Nations, adding that he was pressuring the world body to hold Western countries to their commitments.
The agreement remains the only major diplomatic breakthrough since the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine. (Reuters report, French version Augustin Turpin, edited by Jean-Stéphane Brosse)
click here for restrictions
©2022 Reuters