Russia on Thursday said that a deal that allowed grain exports from Ukraine was not being properly implemented and therefore extending it is a complicated matter.
According to Sergei Lavrov the Russian Foreign Minister clauses in the agreement that provide for Russian grain and fertilizer exports were not being upheld.
“If the package is half fulfilled, then the issue of extension becomes quite complicated,” he said during a press conference with his Saudi counterpart in Moscow.
On Tuesday UN chief Antonio Guterres said it was crucial to extend the deal in a visit to Kyiv.
His call followed a statement last week from U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at a Group of 20 meeting, who demanded that Moscow renew the agreement.
But Russia, who was promised under the deal the right to export fertilizer free from Western sanctions, claims that part of the agreement is not respected.
“Our Western colleagues, the United States and the European Union, pathetically declare… that no sanctions apply to food and fertilizers, but this position is dishonest,” Lavrov said.
“In fact the sanctions prohibit Russian ships carrying grain and fertilizers from entering the corresponding ports, sanctions prohibit foreign ships from entering Russian ports to pick up this cargo,” he said.