Russia Appears To Reject EU Bank Compromise To Salvage Grain Deal

Reuters reporting that Russia has rejected a compromise floated by the European Union to connect a new Russian entity to the SWIFT payment system to facilitate an extension of the Black Sea grain deal.

• According to Reuters, Russia has restated a demand for its state agricultural bank to be reconnected to SWIFT, rather than a subsidiary or an alternate payment channel established between the Russian agricultural bank and JP Morgan.
• Reuters reports that Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova rejected the compromise deal as "deliberately unworkable," arguing it would take "many months to set up such a unit and another three months to connect to SWIFT."
• Reuters: "Russia says the severing of the bank's access to SWIFT is one of the obstacles facing its own exports of food and fertiliser, and that it cannot keep renewing the Black Sea deal unless those issues are addressed."
• The Black Sea grain deal, which has been described by the UN as a "lifeline for global food security" and contributed to a ~20% drop in global food price, will expire on July 17 unless Russia agrees to an extension.