UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has proposed to Russian President Vladimir Putin an extension of an agreement allowing the safe export of grain in the Black Sea from Ukraine in exchange for a subsidiary of Russia’s Agrarian Bank linking to the SWIFT system. Sources told Reuters that the international payment system.
Russia has threatened to abandon the grain deal, which expires on Monday, over failure to meet several demands to send its own grain and fertilizer abroad. The last two ships traveling under the Black Sea Agreement are currently loading cargo in the Ukrainian port of Odessa ahead of the deadline.
One of Moscow’s main demands is to reconnect Russia’s Agricultural Bank Rosselkhozbank to the international payments network SWIFT. It was cut off by the European Union in June 2022 due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. An EU spokesperson said in May that the EU was not considering returning Russian banks.
But three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday that the EU was considering linking up with SWIFT, a subsidiary of Rosselkhozbank, to specifically allow grain and fertilizer deals. The European Commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Two of the sources familiar with the discussions told Reuters that Guterres suggested to Putin that Russia allow the Black Sea grain deal to continue for several months, giving the EU time to link a subsidiary of Rosselkhozbank to SWIFT.
A United Nations spokesman said on Wednesday that Guterres sent a letter to Putin on Tuesday proposing a way forward to further facilitate Russian food and fertilizer exports and ensure continued shipments of Ukrainian grain from the Black Sea.
“The aim is to remove obstacles affecting financial transactions through the Russian Agricultural Bank, which is a major concern expressed by the Russian Federation, and at the same time allow the continued flow of Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters.
He did not give more details about the proposal, but added that Guterres has been in contact with all relevant parties on the issue and is ready to continue discussing his proposal with Russia.
A Kremlin spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The United Nations and Turkey brokered the Black Sea Grains Initiative with Russia and Ukraine in July 2022 to help alleviate a global food crisis exacerbated by Moscow’s invasion and blockade of Ukrainian ports.
To persuade Russia to agree to the Black Sea deal, a three-year memorandum of understanding was concluded at the same time under which UN officials agreed to help Russia move its food and fertilizer exports to foreign markets.
While Russian exports of food and fertilizer are not subject to Western sanctions imposed after the invasion of Ukraine, Moscow says restrictions on payments, logistics and insurance have hindered shipments.
As a workaround to not being able to access SWIFT, UN officials called on US bank JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM.N to begin processing some payments for Russian grain exports with reassurances from the US government.
The top UN trade official told Reuters last month that the UN is also working with the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) to create a platform to help process transactions for Russian exports of grain and fertilizer to Africa.
Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Kanishka Singh, Mark Heinrich and Diane Kraft
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