Lavrov: Guterres was "exploited"
According to Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov criticized the UN Secretary General Guterres' proposal on the resumption of the Black Sea food export agreement on September 10 as "unrealistic".
Lavrov stated in New Delhi on the 10th that after reading a letter from Guterres to him, he believed that Guterres had been exploited by some interested party.
According to reports, Guterres had previously written to Lavrov, suggesting that the Russian side establish a subsidiary of the Agricultural Bank of Russia, and then connect this subsidiary to the system of the Global Interbank Financial Communications Association for relevant settlement.
However, Lavrov said that the seed company of Agricultural Bank of Russia does not have the relevant license. He also stated that there has been no response regarding the issue of Russia obtaining relevant insurance services.
Lavrov reiterated that as long as Russia's demands are met, the Russian side is willing to resume the Black Sea food export agreement.
According to a previous report by Reuters, Russian President's press secretary Peskov said on September 9th that the Russian side is requesting that the Agricultural Bank of Russia be reconnected to SWIFT, rather than following the United Nations proposal to have its branches connected to the international payment system.
Peskov said, "All of our conditions are well known. They don't need to be interpreted, they are very specific and completely achievable."
According to Russian media reports, the implementation of the agreement on the export of grain from the Black Sea has been suspended since July 18, and Russia has notified Türkiye, Ukraine and the United Nations to oppose the extension of the agreement. Putin previously pointed out that despite the efforts of the United Nations, the part of the agreement regarding Russia has not been fulfilled because Western countries do not intend to fulfill their commitments.