U.S. working with U.N. on Russia food, fertilizer export complaints

By Michelle Nichols

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The USA is working with the United Nations to handle Russian complaints that sanctions are hindering its meals and fertilizer shipments, although there was no disruption to Moscow’s exports of the commodities, a senior U.S. official stated on Friday.

The United Nations, Turkey, Ukraine and Russia agreed on July 22 on what was described by U.N. chief Antonio Guterres as a bundle deal to restart Ukraine’s Black Sea grain and fertilizer exports and facilitate Russian shipments.

“We’re seeing no disruption in Russia’s potential to ship meals to market,” James O’Brien, head of the State Division’s Workplace of Sanctions Coordination, instructed reporters. “The fertilizer continues to be reaching markets on the identical charge that it all the time has.”

Whereas the USA and others have harassed that Russian meals and fertilizer isn’t topic to sanctions imposed over Moscow’s Feb. 24 invasion of its neighbor, Russia has asserted there was a chilling impact on its exports.

“The complaints, I believe, are simply an instance of misinformation,” stated O’Brien.

Washington was “working in good religion,” O’Brien stated however asserted that Russia doesn’t want the deal as a result of “it is received entry to the markets by way of different means.”

O’Brien stated the USA would do “every thing we are able to” to handle particular complaints and “Russia and the U.N. are simply now engaged on some particular requests that it has beneath the U.N. settlement and I believe we’ll see progress in that over the following few weeks.”

Senior U.N. and Russian officers met in Geneva on Wednesday to debate Russia’s complaints. The United Nations described the discussions as constructive and really constructive.

O’Brien stated the United Nations had brokered a approach for the USA to talk with a few of the Russian corporations about particular considerations.

“We are going to do what’s wanted to clarify to each business participant that they’re allowed to purchase Russian meals and fertilizer,” he instructed reporters, including that up to now Washington solely needed to needed to problem one so-called consolation letter to clarify a transaction was allowed.

Moscow says logistical sanctions and restrictions on Russian ships getting into Western ports or securing insurance coverage limit Russia’s entry to world markets. It says easing these restrictions was a part of the export deal.

Russian President Vladimir Putin criticized the deal on Wednesday, saying Ukraine was exporting meals and fertilizer to the European Union and Turkey relatively than to poor international locations. The pact permitting Ukraine’s exports is up for renewal in November.

The United Nations has stated that 30% of the grain and different foodstuffs that had left Ukraine beneath the deal up to now had gone to low and lower-middle revenue international locations.

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Modifying by Doina Chiacu and Grant McCool)