Moscow will weigh in on the UN initiative to publish the text of an agreement on grain export from Ukraine, a Kremlin spokesman told reporters Friday.
“Here it is simply necessary to think this initiative through without forgetting, of course, about the mutual coordination of the (grain) export mechanism from Ukrainian ports and about the unblocking of indirect and direct restrictions on the movement of our grain, fertilizers and other similar products to external markets,” said Dmitry Peskov.
He cited that the agreement involves the presence of military authorities and Russian servicemen working at the Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul, adding that “such information is usually not made public.”
Turning to China, Peskov reiterated Moscow’s “solidarity” with Beijing in the case of Taiwan.
“We respect China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and think that no country in the world should have the right to question (it) or undertake any steps of instigative or other nature,” he added.
Regarding the US stance, Peskov said Russia is confident that “such behavior on the international stage can only cause further tension, with the world already strained by a multitude of regional and global problems.”
He said such steps can “certainly be only destructive.”
Peskov pointed out that there are no expected plans for a telephone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart, Joe Biden, at the moment.
He also underlined that issues regarding payment for transit through Lithuania to Russia’s semi-exclave Kaliningrad region in the Baltic Sea and separated from the country’s mainland by Lithuania, Latvia and Belarus, should be resolved through the dialogue.
Last month, a Lithuanian decision to block the transit of certain goods to Kaliningrad, which is on a EU sanctions list, through its territory has once again brought Russia and the West face-to-face as the war in Ukraine continues to rage.
“Surely, there are mechanisms for sorting this out. At the very least, we need to tackle this problem through dialogue and try to solve it,” said Peskov, adding that in case talks fail, Russia would take retaliatory measures.
“If we run into a brick wall of incomprehension, then this will be a problem that will require other measures,” he said.
-AA