UN Of No Help In Normalizing Russian Agricultural Products, Fertilizers Export - Moscow

The United Nations has not helped to normalize exports of Russian agricultural products and fertilizers, as the Black Sea Grain Initiative is hardly progressing and there are no results in the implementation of the Russia-UN memorandum, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.

"If the implementation of this strictly humanitarian initiative meets with such difficulties, the UN cannot be said to have helped normalise our exports of agricultural products and fertilisers. Talk about the threats of hunger and global food security is just a cover for servicing the commercial contracts of Ukrainians and the economic interests of the Western beneficiaries," the ministry said in a statement.

The department added that the Memorandum of Understanding between Russia and the UN on promoting Russian food products and fertilizers to the world markets was mentioned only in one paragraph of the organization's bulletin.

"UN officials have nothing to say (as distinct from the Black Sea Initiative) about specific results of implementing the said agreement. Against the backdrop of numerous declarations by Washington, Brussels and London that unilateral sanctions do not apply to food and fertilisers, they are simply assuring the public of the continued efforts to ensure relevant withdrawals. If there are no restrictions, what is the need for withdrawals," the statement read.

In addition, the Russian Foreign Ministry said the UN made no effort to resolve the issue with the resumption of ammonia transit via the Tolyatti-Odesa pipeline.

"The UN officials, who are vigorously calling for increasing grain export from Ukraine, are doing nothing to resolve this issue. They refer to some talks, although it is not clear who is taking part in these talks and what they concern, since no representatives from Russia are involved in any such thing," the statement read.