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July 21 () –
Russia’s representative to the United Nations, Vasili Nebenzia, assured this Friday before the organization’s Security Council that the agreement for the export of grain and agricultural products from Ukrainian ports had become a “commercial” operation.
Nebenzia has expressed feeling “surprised by the degree of cynicism” of the Western members of the Security Council when it comes to expressing their concern about the end of the grain agreement. “I have a question for you, what did you expect?” added the Russian representative.
“Nobody should be surprised by the decision we made,” Nebenzia added, recalling that Russia had been warning for some time that, if its demands were not met and compliance with the part of the agreement that benefited it was guaranteed, it would not agree to a new extension of the agreement.
Russia and Ukraine reached an agreement last July — mediated by Turkey and the United Nations — for the export of Ukrainian grain and Russian fertilizers from Black Sea ports. After several extensions, the pact finally came to an end this week after the Russian refusal to a new extension.
Moscow has been denouncing in recent times that only the part of the agreement that benefited Ukrainian interests was being fulfilled, at the same time that it considered that the exported grain was barely reaching the countries that needed it most, especially in Africa and the Middle East. .
