Russia Expected To Reject Guterres Proposal To Revive Black Sea Deal

Reuters reporting, citing a Russian diplomat, that United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres sent a proposal to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov with a proposal to revive the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

• According to Reuters, the Russian diplomat said the letter to Lavrov provided "no revelations" and just "sums up of previous U.N. ideas, which didn't fly."
• Lavrov said a short time ago after a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Moscow that Russia has yet to see any concessions from the West which could address Russian conditions for re-entering the initiative.
• The comments suggest that Moscow is unlikely to return to the deal in the short-term despite Kremlin statements indicating they will return to the deal when the West adheres to Russian conditions.
• Russian conditions for re-entering the deal are understood to include greater market access for Russian fertilisers which, although not targeted by sanctions, Moscow claims are subject to restrictions on payments, logistics and insurance which amount to a practical blockade on exports.