The sanctions the West has imposed on Russia over the Ukraine conflict stand in the way of the grain deal that was supposed to allow Moscow to export food products and fertilizers, Russia’s permanent representative to the UN Vassily Nebenzia said on Thursday.
Speaking at a UN Security Council meeting, Nebenzia slammed Western “illegal unilateral sanctions,” thwarting the implementation of the UN- and Turkey brokered deal unblocking Ukrainian grain export via the Black Sea in exchange for Russian agricultural products gaining unimpeded access to global markets.
“The European Union and the United States’ narrative saying that their sanctions do not interfere with the export of food and fertilizers does not reflect reality,” Russia’s envoy noted.
According to Nebenzia, about 300,000 tons of Russian fertilizer to the tune of “tens of millions of dollars” have been stuck in European ports due to the sanctions.