EU helping UN, Turkey in bid to extend Black Sea grain deal
By Michelle Nichols
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -The European Commission is helping the United Nations and Turkey try to extend a deal allowing the Black Sea export of Ukraine grain — that could expire on Monday — and is open to «explore all solutions,» a European Union spokesperson said on Thursday.
The EU is considering connecting a subsidiary of the Russian Agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank) to the international payment network SWIFT to allow for grain and fertilizer transactions, sources familiar with discussions told Reuters on Wednesday.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres proposed in a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday that Moscow allow the Black Sea grain deal to continue for several months to give the EU time to connect a Rosselkhozbank subsidiary to SWIFT, two of those sources familiar with discussions told Reuters.
During a visit to Brussels on Thursday, Guterres told reporters that he had not yet received a response from Russia. He said his letter to Putin contained «concrete proposals that I hope can allow us to find a positive way forward.»
The European Commission's priority is to ensure that Ukrainian grain can reach the world market and it calls on all parties to extend the Black Sea deal, A European Union spokesperson in Brussels said on Thursday.
«We are assisting the talks led by the U.N. and Turkey as required,» the EU spokesperson said. «We are of course open to explore all solutions that contribute to our objective, whilst continuing to ensure that Russia's ability to wage war in Ukraine is hampered as much as possible.»
A key demand by Moscow is the reconnection of Rosselkhozbank to SWIFT. It was cut off by the European Union in June 2022 over Russia's invasion of Ukraine in
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