U.S. urges Russia to rejoin Istanbul Grain Initiative

NEW YORK, UN. Nov 1 (Interfax) - Washington is urging Russia to resume participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative, Alternate Representative for Special Political Affairs at the United States Mission to the United Nations Jeffrey DeLaurentis said on Monday.

"Russia's announcement to suspend its participation in the UN-brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative is deeply concerning [...]. We urge Russia to keep this essential, life-saving arrangement functioning," he said.

Additionally, the U.S. representative pledged that the U.S. authorities had excluded food and fertilizer shipments to the markets from the sanctions imposed on Russia. "The United States has already excluded food and fertilizer from our sanctions on Russia," he said.

According to earlier reports, Russia has suspended its participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative over Ukrainian drone attacks on Black Sea Fleet ships.

Moscow has sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and his deputy for humanitarian affairs Martin Griffiths saying Ukrainian troops on October 29 had delivered powerful strikes from air and sea, using drones, on the ships and infrastructure of the Russian Black Sea Fleet used in the operation of the humanitarian corridor created for the export of agricultural products from Ukraine. The attack was covered with safe corridors intended for the implementation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, the letter said.