Swift and sanction requirement for Russia’s grain broker

The Russian Foreign Ministry announced it will not support the extension of the Black Sea grain corridor deal in May unless problems with the Swift financial messaging system are resolved and other sanctions against Russia are lifted.

The deal was extended for at least 60 days after Russia announced last week that it supports a 60-day extension of the Black Sea Grain Corridor deal, which allows grain exports from Ukraine ports blocked by Russia.

The United Nations (UN) and Turkey, which are mediators between Ukraine and Russia, requested the 120-day extension of the agreement, which was signed in July last year and then extended in November.

On the other hand, in his video statement at the parliamentary conference of Russia and African countries, Putin stated that if the grain corridor agreement is not extended in May, Russia will send free grains to African countries.

Stating that only a small part of Russia’s grain exports, which were hampered by the Ukrainian war, reached Africa, Putin added that Africa is interested in meeting the conditions put forward by Russia for the extension of the deal. (Reuters)