Sanctions on Russian grain exports must be removed to improve food markets: Putin

Tehran [Iran], July 20 (ANI): Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday said the restrictions on Moscow's exports of grains must be waived as there had been an agreement with international organizations and no one had objected to it.
"Initially we put the issue in such a way that it should be a package solution. Specifically, we will be facilitating the exports of Ukrainian grains, but we assume that all the restrictions related to air shipments of Russian grains will be waived," Putin said after the trilateral summit in Iran.
"Originally, that is what we agreed on with international organizations. And having taken the trouble to make it a package solution, no one has objected so far, including our American partners," he further said as quoted by Sputnik News Agency.
The President expressed hope that all the restrictions will be waived in order to improve the situation in international food markets.
"As you know, the restriction on supplies of Russian fertilizers to the world market has been lifted by Americans, de facto lifted. I hope that the same, the same thing will happen to exports of Russian grains if they sincerely wish to improve the situation in the international food markets. We are already prepared. We have the export potential of 30 million (tonnes of) grains, and this year it will reach (50 million tonnes)," Putin said.
Responding to a question about his possible meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Putin said that Ukraine had refused to implement reached agreements and has no intentions to do so now.
"In order to create these conditions, our troops had withdrawn from the center of Ukraine -- from Kyiv. The Kyiv authorities had refused to implement these agreements, even though they had been practically reached. Thus, the final result depends not on the mediators, of course, but on the willingness of the negotiating parties to implement the reached agreements. Today we see that the Kyiv authorities have no such desire," Putin told journalists after the trilateral summit.
He thanked Saudi Arabia UAE and other countries for offering mediation With Ukraine. (ANI)