On July 18, at the initiative of the Turkish side, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov had a telephone conversation with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey H.Fidan.
An exchange of views was held on the regional agenda with an emphasis on the latest developments around Ukraine. The results of joint work within the framework of the “Black Sea initiative” were discussed. Sergey Lavrov stated that due to the non–fulfillment of the Russian part of the package agreements of the Russia-UN Memorandum, in particular, the continued blocking of Russian bank payments, insurance and transport logistics, the freezing of our foreign assets and supplies of domestic agricultural products and fertilizers to world markets, as well as the actual loss of the humanitarian nature of the transaction, openly commercialized by Kiev, the implementation of agreements on grain has been discontinued since July 18. In practical terms, this means the withdrawal of guarantees for the safety of navigation and the restoration of the regime of a temporarily dangerous area in the northwestern waters of the Black Sea, the curtailment of the maritime humanitarian corridor in the Agreement zone and the disbanding of the Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul.
As an alternative to the “Black Sea initiative”, the ministers considered other options for grain supplies to the most needy countries, independent of the subversive actions of Kiev and its Western patrons.
The sides exchanged views on a number of issues of bilateral relations.
It was agreed to continue contacts.
