Lavrov says he's hopeful on unblocking Russian farm exports, based on EU and US promises
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters at the G20 summit in Bali on Tuesday that the United Nations had told him of written US and EU promises to remove obstacles to the export of Russian grain and fertilisers to world markets.
Lavrov said he had received undertakings on this from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Russian grains and fertilisers are not directly targeted by Western sanctions, but Moscow has complained for months that they are effectively restricted because the sanctions limit access to ports, finance and insurance.
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Lavrov said Guterres was doing his best to ensure this was addressed as part of the Black Sea initiative signed in July, which allowed Ukraine to resume shipping grain from its southern ports after months of Russian blockade.
Lavrov said Guterres had told him he had obtained written promises from the United States and European Union to implement the part of that deal that concerned Russia's exports, so that operators handling Russian grain would not be sanctioned.
If these promises were realised, then all obstacles to the export of Russian grain and fertilisers would be removed, he said.
