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Putin Noncommittal On Grain Deal Extension During Call with South African Leader

By RFE/RL July 15, 2023

Russian President Vladimir remained noncommittal on extending a UN-backed grain deal, claiming in a call with his South African counterpart that Moscow's demands have not been met.

Putin on July 15 told South African President Cyril Ramaphosa that requests to remove obstacles to Russian food and fertilizer exports had not yet been fulfilled.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative, which was struck last year and credited with easing the global food crisis resulting from Russia's invasion of Ukraine, is set to expire on July 17 unless extended.

The agreement allows safe passage for ships carrying grain from Ukraine, one of the largest food exporters, through the Black Sea corridor.

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres earlier this week said he sent Putin a letter with a proposal to keep the deal operational.

Guterres offered to reconnect a subsidiary of Russia's Agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank) to the international payment system SWIFT in exchange for Russia's extension of the deal, Reuters reported. Putin claimed not to have seen the letter.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who helped facilitate the original deal in July 2022, claimed on July 14 that he and Putin were in agreement that it should be extended. The Kremlin quickly clarified that it had not reached such an agreement.

Russia has threatened in the past to pull out of the deal only to agree at the last minute as it pushed for greater concessions.

Putin has also complained that most of the grain from the deal goes to wealthy nations and not those most in need. In reality, the Black Sea Grain Initiative increases the total supply of grain on global markets, driving down prices and thus helping poorer nations.

During the call, the two leaders also discussed the BRICS summit to be held in South Africa in August. "BRICS" is an acronym denoting the large, emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa and was originally coined in 2001 as "BRIC" by the Goldman Sachs economist Jim O'Neill.

Putin's attendance at the event is uncertain following an arrest warrant issued against him in March by the International Criminal Court (ICC), which accused the Kremlin leader of the war crime of deporting Ukrainian children to Russia.

The warrant means ICC member states, such as South Africa, are obliged to arrest him if he sets foot on their territory. Russia said at the time that the warrant was "outrageous" and legally void because Russia is not an ICC member.

During a visit to Russia later this month for an Africa summit, Ramaphosa will try to convince Putin not to attend the BRICS meeting, the FT reported, citing South African officials.

The Kremlin has yet to say publicly whether Putin intends to attend the summit.

With reporting by Reuters, WSJ, and FT

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/putin-noncommittal- grain-deal-extension-south-africa/32504992.html

Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.