Washington, Aug 9 (Agency) The door for the resumption of the Black Sea Grain Initiative remains open, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said. “Russia as a responsible power, interested in easing the burden of the poorest states, repeatedly, including at the highest level, has made it clear that the door for the resumption of the ‘grain deal’ remains open. All that is needed from the United States and its allies is to eliminate distortions in the implementation of interrelated agricultural agreements not in word, but in deed as well as eliminate the piled up barriers that impede the access of Russian agricultural exports to world markets,” Antonov told reporters.
He dismissed statements about exceptions from anti-Russian sanctions. “Statements from local authorities about the so-called exceptions from the illegitimate sanctions mechanism represent another fake rhetoric and an attempt to save their face. Russian companies continue to experience financial and logistical challenges. Even when it comes to free of charge deliveries of fertilizers to the destitute regions,” Antonov said. The ambassador condemned US attempts to put pressure on developing countries. “Washington’s attempts to put pressure on developing countries in order to ‘convince’ the Russian Federation to return to the ‘grain deal’ are part of an information campaign to distort the real situation,” Antonov said. “Thus, they are trying to ditch the responsibility for systemic distortions in the work of the interconnected Istanbul food agreements. Shift the focus of the general public’s attention from the fact that the export of grain from the territory of Ukraine did not correspond to the initially declared humanitarian goals,” he said.