Russia ready to honor wheat supply obligations but needs Western guarantees such deliveries won't be sanctioned - Medvedev

MOSCOW. June 3 (Interfax) - Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev has called the allegations that Russia is causing a global food crisis false and has declared Russia's readiness to fully honor wheat supply obligations on the condition of guarantees that such deliveries won't be placed under sanctions.

"It is a lie," Medvedev said in an interview with Al Jazeera in response to a remark that Western nations had been accusing Russia of causing a global food crisis.

"We are still ready to honor the obligations," he said.

"Our current quotas will expire at the end of the month. The wheat delivery quotas have not been fully used. Later on, the quotas will expire and custom duties will apply, I mean special customs regulations will take effect. In other words, it will be possible to buy but the question is how we can make the deliveries and whether they might be placed under sanctions," Medvedev said.

"So, as they say, the ball is in their court, the court of the Western world," he said.

"They are telling us to make the deliveries yet they deny service to our ships, our merchant ships, and try to seize our assets. They are telling us to deliver, say, wheat, but may be planning to seize it. This is not how it works in the world, that's impossible," Medvedev said.

The global food situation began to deteriorate about five to seven years ago, Medvedev said.

"The situation has obviously deteriorated lately, and if we talk about our country, this is happening because of the sanctions imposed by the Western world," he said.