Moscow presents U.S. with specific proposals on Black Sea deal - Lavrov

MOSCOW. April 1 (Interfax) - Russia has made specific proposals on the practical implementation of the Black Sea initiative, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters.

"We backed, as I have already said, the U.S. readiness that was formalized on paper after the March 24 meeting, but we added specific proposals on how this can be done in practice," Lavrov said.

These proposals are entirely essential in order not to repeat the deplorable experience of the original Black Sea grain initiative, which was endorsed in July 2022 after United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres put it forward, he said.

"Part of the package is dedicated to facilitating the Ukrainian grain exports, and the second part is dedicated to the exports of our grain and our fertilizer. The Ukrainian part has been functioning all this time, we have been honoring our commitments. Nothing has been done with regard to Russian interests, which were enshrined as obligations of our partners as part of that initiative," Lavrov said.