In order to persuade Russia to extend the grain agreement with Ukraine, the EU is considering possible concessions. According to diplomats, the idea is to offer the Russian Agricultural Bank to tolerate circumvention of EU sanctions.
This could therefore found a subsidiary in order to be able to use the international financial communication network Swift again for the processing of certain payments. The bank itself is currently not allowed to do this due to sanctions due to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.
According to information from the German Press Agency, the background to the considerations are threats from Russia to let the agreement on the export of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea expire in the middle of the month. The government justifies it with alleged restrictions on Russian agricultural and fertilizer exports, which it expects to be relaxed in return for exports of Ukrainian grain. In this context, Moscow is also specifically demanding an end to the sanctions against its state agricultural bank in order to be able to process payments more easily.
Agreement was extended in mid-May
Russia blocked grain exports from the neighboring country for months after attacking Ukraine in February last year. In the summer of 2022, with the mediation of the United Nations and Turkey, an agreement was concluded between the two warring parties, as a result of which Ukrainian grain was shipped again. Most recently, it was extended for a further two months in mid-May – combined with Moscow’s demand to now also facilitate its own exports.
In a phone call on Monday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj called for the grain agreement to be extended beyond July 17 because it would help improve global food supplies.
According to diplomats on Monday, the fact that the EU is not simply lifting the sanctions against the agricultural bank has to do with the fact that there would probably not be the necessary consensus among the member states. However, allowing a new subsidiary to use Swift could not prevent opponents of such a step. Supporters of the measure point out that grain exports are very important not only for Ukraine, but also for recipient countries in Africa and Asia. In addition, from their point of view, it must be prevented that Russia can blame the West for a possible failure of the agreement.
