Kiev refuses to sign agreements and oil prices "skyrocket." What Putin told media in Tehran

20 July 2022


 
Moscow sees that Kiev is not ready to implement the agreements, although the parties actually reached an agreement at the talks in late March, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday. 

 
Answering questions from reporters in Tehran, he noted that Moscow is ready to facilitate the export of Ukrainian grain provided restrictions on food exports from Russia are lifted; spoke about problems with gas supplies through Nord Stream-2, even if it is launched right now, and called ideas about limiting Russian oil prices "preposterous." 

 
TASS compiled Putin's answers to media. 

 
On the results of the Astana troika summit 


"All of us believe that it is necessary to guarantee the territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic and get rid of terrorists, and all sorts of different suits, I will not enumerate these suits now. This is the main thing, the most important thing, and it is confirmed once again in the joint statement [at the end of the summit]." 

 
The troika "has some discrepancies about what's happening in Trans-Euphrates," but there's also a common position that "US troops must leave this territory": "They must stop looting the Syrian state and the Syrian people, taking oil out of there illegally. "

 
Overall, it is thanks to Russia, Iran and Turkey that over 90% of the Syrian territory is controlled by the legitimate authorities and the country has "broken the back of international terrorism after all." 

 
The result of any negotiations depends on the willingness of the sides to implement the agreements reached: "Today we see that the authorities in Kiev have no such desire."  

 
At the talks in Istanbul at the end of March, Moscow and Kiev "actually reached an agreement; all that is left is to initial it," but after the withdrawal of Russian troops from the central regions of Ukraine, the Kiev authorities refused to implement the agreements. 

 
Not only Turkey, but also Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates offer mediation services, and Russia is grateful to them for this: "Even a desire to make some contribution to this noble cause is already worth a lot." 

 
About Ukrainian grain 

 

Russia insists on a package agreement on grain exports from Ukraine: "Initially we put it this way: <...> we will facilitate the export of Ukrainian grain but we also assume that all restrictions related to possible deliveries of Russian grain will be removed."

 
An agreement to this effect has been discussed with international organizations, and so far no one, including the United States, has objected. At the same time, the Americans have already effectively lifted restrictions on Russian fertilizer exports: "If they sincerely want to improve the situation on international food markets, I hope the same will happen for Russian grain exports." 

 
Earlier on Tuesday, during a meeting with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, Putin said that "not all issues <...> have been solved yet," in the grain negotiations, "but the fact that there is progress is already good". Erdogan called the Russian position at the talks "very positive and constructive." 

 
On gas supplies to Europe 

 

The West is groundlessly trying to shift the responsibility for the consequences of its own mistakes in the energy sphere on Russia: "I don't know if I need to go into details concerning the energy policies of the European countries that neglect the importance of the traditional energy types and focus on the unconventional ones. They are big specialists in the field of unconventional relations and they also decided to bet on unconventional types of energy." 

 
Gazprom has always fulfilled, is fulfilling and intends to fulfill its obligations, but faces obstacles - for example, Ukraine "for no good reason" has closed one of the gas supply routes through its territory. 

 
Moreover, Gazprom still has not received documents for a turbine for Nord Stream 1. Without this turbine, the supply volume of this pipeline will halve. Moscow is ready to launch Nord Stream-2, but there are problems with this route as well - half of the gas volume intended for it had to be removed "for domestic consumption and processing." 

 
On limiting the cost of Russian oil 

 

"Now we hear all sorts of preposterous ideas about limiting the volume of Russian oil, limiting the price of Russian oil. This is the same thing that happens with gas. <...> The result will be the same - a price hike. Oil prices will skyrocket. 

 
On sanctions against Syria 


The sanctions that the West has imposed against Syria are leading to deplorable results: "Almost 90% [of the population] live below the poverty line there now. The situation is very serious. At the same time, one should not politicize humanitarian aid, it would be unfair to "single out someone, some groups.""

 

 

GSV "Russia - Islamic world"

Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation

Based on materials from TASS