Russia: Even if “Black Sea Grain Initiative” ends, exports will continue

At a press conference held by video conference, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov made assessments on current issues. He said that Russia’s exports of agricultural products would continue in case the Black Sea Grain Initiative ended.

Lavrov stated that Russia’s exports of agricultural products would not suffer if the Black Sea Grain Initiative ended. He said “In any case, our fertilizer and food exports continue. I am sure that our partners will not be harmed.”

Minister Lavrov said that the part related to Ukraine’s grain exports in the grain initiative had a commercial nature, adding “a little more than 2.5 percent of grain is exported to the poorest countries, and if the agreement is terminated, Russia will cover the costs and provide free supply of a similar or larger amount of grain to the poorest countries.”

Lavrov said, “I don’t understand what argument there is for those who want to maintain this Black Sea agreement, because, as I said, this agreement became commercial a long time ago when it comes to Ukrainian grain.”