U.N. held talks in Russia on Monday on grain, fertilizer exports

Top United Nations trade official Rebeca Grynspan met with Russian officials in Moscow on Monday for talks aimed at enabling the “unimpeded access” to global markets for grain and fertiliser from Russia and Ukraine, a UN spokesperson said.

UN aid chief Martin Griffiths also attended the meetings virtually, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “continues in his determination to facilitate the unimpeded access to global markets for food products and fertilisers from both Ukraine and the Russian Federation,” Dujarric said.

He added that Grynspan and Griffiths’ consultations with Russia “are taking place with this goal in mind.”

The United Nations has blamed Russia’s war in Ukraine for worsening a global food crisis. Ukraine and Russia are both major grain exporters and Moscow is also a big supplier of fertiliser to the world.

Guterres sent Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov a letter in August outlining measures that the United Nations could help to improve Russia’s grain and fertiliser exports in a bid to convince Moscow to return to a deal.

Lavrov said late last month that Russia has not rejected the UN proposals, but described them as “simply not realistic.”

Tags: fertilizers, UN, Black Sea grain deal, Russia