Russian President Vladimir Putin called the West’s failure to meet Moscow’s demands to continue the UN Black Sea grain initiative “insolence and audacity” and said his country would consider a return if conditions were met, CNN reported.

“Just pure arrogance and audacity. Empty words and promises. And they just compromised,” Putin said during a televised meeting with cabinet members on Wednesday.

“At first, the authority, including the leadership of the UN Secretariat, which actually acted as a guarantor of the grain agreement,” he said.

Moscow has shown “miracles of endurance and tolerance” by consistently extending the deal in the past, the Russian president said.

“The West did everything to disrupt the grain agreement, they spared no effort,” he said, adding that Russia was not allowed to donate fertilizers to the poorest countries.

What does Russia want?

Putin also stated that Moscow will consider returning to the treaty if all its principles are taken into account and implemented without exception.

“The continuation of the grain agreement in the form in which it was has lost all meaning. Therefore, we opposed the further extension of this so-called agreement,” he said.

“We will consider the possibility of returning (to the treaty), but on one condition: that all the principles of Russia’s participation in this treaty be taken into account and implemented without exception and in full,” Putin said at a televised government meeting.

This week, Russia decided not to extend the deal, which was intended to allow Ukrainian grain exports, after months of criticism of the text, as Moscow argued that its own supplies of agricultural products and fertilizers interfered with the sanctions.

He also calls for restoring the connection of Russian banks and financial institutions to the SWIFT international banking system, which they were deprived of after the start of the offensive against Ukraine in 2022.

Russia’s agricultural sector, one of the world’s biggest grain exporters alongside Ukraine, is also facing shortages of spare parts for machinery and industry, as well as problems with ship insurance.

Moscow is also demanding the reopening of a giant gas pipeline connecting the Russian city of Tolyatti to the Ukrainian port of Odesa, which is used to export ammonia, a key component of fertilizers.

The pipeline, which was decommissioned after the conflict, was damaged in an explosion Moscow blames in June in Kyiv.

“As soon as (these conditions) are met, we will immediately return to this agreement,” Putin insisted, accusing the West of “shamelessly exploiting” grain exports from Ukraine.

“Instead of helping countries that really need help, the West has used the grain agreement for political blackmail and turned it into a tool for the enrichment of transnational corporations and speculators in the world market,” he charged.

In his opinion, the grain agreement led to $1.2 billion in losses for Russian farmers and a drop in the profitability of exports.

“Our country is able to replace Ukrainian grain both commercially and for free,” Putin continued, predicting a “record harvest” this year.

It will be recalled that on Monday Moscow announced its withdrawal from the grain agreement, which last year allowed the safe export of Ukrainian grain from Black Sea ports to solve the global food crisis.

The Kremlin also warned on Tuesday that there would be “risks” in trying to ship grain from Ukrainian Black Sea ports without security guarantees from Russia, as Moscow claims Kyiv has used those waters for military operations.

Read also:

• Russia warns that it will consider ships bound for Ukraine as potential military targets

• Immediate effect of the Kremlin’s decision to terminate the Black Sea Grain Agreement / What consequences may be caused by Vladimir Putin’s measures
• Zelensky’s first reaction after Russia’s decision to withdraw from the grain agreement: We must do everything to keep this corridor in use / Companies will, if Turkey allows them
• Odesa region, a key area for the important grain deal, was attacked immediately after the UN-brokered deal ended / Arrival at the port

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