Gennady Gatilov, Russia’s permanent representative at the United Nations headquarters, said that if Moscow‘s criteria are addressed by international partners, Moscow would be willing to resume the Black Sea grain agreement.
In comments made in response to a query from Reuters and posted on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Telegram channel on Tuesday, Gatilov charged that the arrangement had strayed from its “intended humanitarian purposes.”
Gatilov did say the UN “tried on its part to urge the Western governments and business structures to implement the Russian-UN Memorandum.”
“However, despite the efforts, the leadership of the UN Secretariat could not overcome the resistance of the Western countries and private companies, on which depended the fulfillment of our demands,” he said.
Gatilov also claimed that Ukraine “repeatedly used the Black Sea humanitarian route for provocations and attacks against Russian civilian and military vessels, as well as infrastructure.”