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Russia-UN Memorandum Must Be Implemented For Grain Deal To Be Extended: Kremlin

© AP Photo / Efrem LukatskyA dump track unloads grain in a granary in the village of Zghurivka, Ukraine, Aug. 9, 2022.
A dump track unloads grain in a granary in the village of Zghurivka, Ukraine, Aug. 9, 2022. - Sputnik International, 1920, 12.05.2023
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - It is necessary to implement the second part of the grain deal concerning Russia to extend the Black Sea initiative, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.
"In order for the deal to work, a conversation between the two presidents will not help. In order for this deal to work, the second part of the deal, which concerns promises to us, needs to be implemented," Peskov told reporters.
So far, there is no information about the possibility of extending the grain deal, the official added.
Delegations from Turkey, Russia, Ukraine and the UN held talks on the extension of the grain deal in Istanbul from May 10-11. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin said on Thursday that the Black Sea Grain Initiative will cease to exist if there is no agreement on its extension by May 18.
A harvester collects wheat in Semikarakorsky District of Rostov-on-Don region near Semikarakorsk, Southern Russia, Wednesday, July 6, 2022. Russia is the world's biggest exporter of wheat, accounting for almost a fifth of global shipments.  - Sputnik International, 1920, 11.05.2023
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Russia Sees No Point in Preserving Black Sea Grain Deal Against Its Interests
The West will never recognize that its sanctions against Russia were a mistake, Peskov said.
"They [Western countries] will not say so," Peskov told reporters when asked whether Russia will forgive the West if it proposes peace and stop introducing sanctions, calling them erroneous.
According to Dmitry Peskov, Moscow has no information so far about the Vatican's mediation mission in Ukraine.
"No, we have no such information. Maybe, we will receive it in time. We will be monitoring this closely!" Peskov told reporters.
During a press conference on April 30 after his visit to Hungary, Pope Francis said that the Vatican was involved in a secret mission to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. The Holy See added that it will be able to tell about it only later, when it becomes public. Earlier on Friday, a source in the Holy See told RIA Novosti that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to visit the Vatican and meet with Pope Francis on May 13.
Moscow will not comment on reports that the United States is considering the possibility of a limited lifting of sanctions against Russia as part of a prisoner exchange deal of the detained in Russia former US Marine Paul Whelan and Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich, Peskov said.
"We will not comment on this topic in any way whatsoever," Peskov said.
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On Thursday, media reported that the United States is reaching out to countries that have detained alleged Russian spies as part of Washington's effort to secure a prisoner swap for Gershkovich and Whelan. The US is also considering cutting down on some of the sanctions imposed on Russia as part of a the effort to secure a prisoner swap, according to the broadcaster.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov pose for journalists at the start of their meeting on the sidelines of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) meeting in Stockholm, on December 2, 2021. - Sputnik International, 1920, 03.03.2023
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Moscow Denies Reports Blinken and Lavrov Discussed Whelan
Russian President Vladimir Putin is not planning to hold a meeting with Special Representative of the Chinese Government on Eurasian Affairs Li Hui during his visit to Russia later in May, Peskov added.
"So far, there is no such meeting in the schedule [of the president]. All this will be worked out through the diplomatic departments," Peskov told reporters.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Friday that Li will embark on a tour of five countries — Ukraine, Poland, France, Germany and Russia — on May 15 to discuss the Ukrainian crisis.
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