Kremlin says upcoming Russia-US talks on resuming Black Sea grain deal ‘difficult'

The Kremlin on Sunday said the upcoming talks between Russia and the US in Saudi Arabia on the potential resumption of the Black Sea Grain Initiative will be “difficult.”

Delegations from Washington and Moscow will hold a new round of bilateral talks in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Monday, during which Russia said they will “work out the prospects for the possible implementation of the well-known initiative concerning the safety of navigation in the Black Sea,” in reference to the grain deal.

The grain deal, signed in July 2022 in Istanbul by Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine, was aimed at resuming grain exports from Ukrainian ports halted due to the Russia-Ukraine war, which began in February 2022.

On July 17, 2023, Russia withdrew from the deal, saying that the Russian part of the agreement had not been implemented. It sought the loosening of banking restrictions and the ability to ship its fertilizer before returning to the agreement.

In an interview with Russian journalist Pavel Zarubin, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow seeks to discuss Russian President Vladimir Putin's consent to renew the initiative and is ready to talk about the nuances around the issue.

“And there are a huge number of these nuances. Earlier, when Mr. (UN Secretary-General Antonio) Guterres acted as the guarantor of the Black Sea deal, we fulfilled all our obligations, but the obligations towards us were never fulfilled. Therefore, difficult negotiations are ahead,” Peskov said.

Commenting on Putin and US President Donald Trump's phone conversation on March 18, Peskov said that the talks were held in a “trusting, frank, constructive and working” atmosphere.

He further said the current tone of Washington's rhetoric appeals to Moscow much more than the one under former President Joe Biden's administration, and that Russia believes in the potential for mutually beneficial cooperation with the US in a wide variety of areas.

“Only a foolish person can underestimate the influence of the United States of America on world politics. This influence is enormous,” Peskov also said, urging there is “no point in deceiving ourselves” regarding the complexity of finding a settlement to the Ukraine war.

According to him, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's promises should not be trusted because the value of his words is “not too high.”

He also described French President Emmanuel Macron's remarks about the possibility of extending his country's nuclear umbrella to other European partners as “very, very dangerous.”