UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has proposed to Putin that he extend the Ukrainain “grain agreements” in return for connecting a subsidiary of Russia’s agricultural bank to the SWIFT international payment system.
Reuters writes about this with reference to its sources.
Russia is threatening to break the grain deal, which expires on July 17, because its several demands to dispatch its own grain and fertilizers abroad have not been met.
Another demand by Moscow is the reconnection of the Russian agricultural bank to the SWIFT international payment network. It was cut off by the EU in June 2022 over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The EU is not considering reinstating Russian banks. However, the EU is considering connecting to SWIFT a subsidiary of Rosselkhozbank to allow specifically for grain and fertilizer transactions.
“Guterres sent a letter to Putin on Tuesday proposing a way forward to further facilitate Russian food and fertilizer exports and ensure the continued Black Sea shipments of Ukrainian grain,” UN representative says.
Tags: grain Putin Russia UN
