As part of its demand that Russian exports of food and fertilizer be permitted as part of the renewal of the Ukraine grain deal, as had originally been agreed, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin insisted that the Russian Agricultural Bank be reconnected to the SWIFT banking transfer system. All Russian banks have been excluded from that system as part of the Western sanction.
“This is not the first time we’ve discussed it, because, in my opinion, reconnection of the Russian Agricultural Bank, which provides the majority of agricultural transactions, agricultural operations, is a critical issue,” Vershinin stated. “We simply cannot move forward without it. We’ve talked about this before, and yesterday we talked about it very substantively and for a long time, and we obtained reassurance from UN representatives that they, too, believe this is a critical issue,” Vershinin said. “We’re working on it, and we will achieve it,” the diplomat continued.
