Foreign Ministry denies Putin's statement about Ukraine's new obligations regarding grain deal

Ukraine has not taken on any new obligations beyond those already existing in the U.N.-backed grain agreement, Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said on Nov. 3.

Dictator Vladimir Putin said Ukraine provided "guarantees" of not using the grain corridor for military purposes, but Ukraine "has never endangered the grain route" in the first place, Nikolenko said.

"Ukraine did not take on any new obligations that would go beyond those already existing in the grain agreement," Nikolenko.

Moscow returned to the Black Sea Grain Initiative due to the active diplomacy of U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who "found the words that Putin understood," the spokesman said. "It was a position of strength, not concessions," he added.

The Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Nov. 3 that the decision to resume the grain deal does not mean that Moscow is ready to extend it; the topic is yet to be discussed. The deal is set to expire in late November.

On Nov. 2, Russia announced it would continue its participation in the deal that allows grain shipments from Ukraine via the Black Sea.

The day before, Putin told Erdogan that his country would only return to the grain agreement in case an investigation of the Sevastopol attack is conducted, and Ukraine gives "real guarantees" of not using the grain corridor for military purposes.

On Oct. 29, Russia said it was suspending its participation in the grain deal due to an alleged drone attack on Russian warships in the occupied Crimean port of Sevastopol. Russia blamed the Ukrainian military for using the "grain corridor" to conduct the strike.

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The Kyiv Independent