The official site of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that there has been no progress on three of the five systemic problems: the ammonia pipeline, the reconnection to the SWIFT system and the issue of spare parts.

The Foreign Ministry emphasized that progress along these paths is completely blocked by Western countries.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin condemned the explosion of the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline in Kiev-controlled territory during consultations in Geneva, and noted that by doing so, Ukraine dealt a heavy blow to the very concept of the Istanbul agreements of July 22nd, 2022, including the “Black Sea initiative”, which ammonia supplies were included in.

The department stressed that faster resolution of these issues could help restore access for Russian products to world markets, which, in turn, is in line with the goals of global food security as a whole.

Russian Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary in Ankara Alexei Yerkhov recently said that there were no conditions yet to extend the terms of the grain deal.

On Thursday, the Kremlin expressed doubts about the extension of the grain deal after the explosion of ammonia pipelines near the Ukrainian-controlled city of Kharkiv.

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