The president of Russia Vladimir Putin claimed on Saturday that the main goal of the Ukrainian grain deal, which expires on July 17, has not been met, in a phone call with his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa.

“Vladimir Putin underlined that the commitments made in the Russia-UN memorandum on the removal of obstacles to the export of Russian food and fertilizers have not yet been implemented. The main goal, the delivery of grain to countries in need, mainly on the African continent, was not realized,” said the Kremlin statement on the occasion of this telephone call.

Yesterday Friday the president of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who brokered the so-called Black Sea deal, assured that Putin “agrees” to its extension. But Moscow denied that any statement was made on this matter. Earlier in the day, Putin expressed his displeasure because, he claims, “not one” of the Russian demands have been taken into account in the negotiations to extend the agreement.

This agreement, which was reached in July 2022 and has been renewed twice so far, expires at midnight on Monday (Greece time). This year, based on this memorandum, they were exported about 33 million tons of grain from Ukrainian ports, despite the war.

The South African president also discussed with Putin the preparations for the summit of the BRICS countries to be held at the end of August. Putin has been invited, but the Kremlin has not yet announced whether he plans to go to South Africa.

Ramaphosa is in a difficult position, as host of the summit, because in March the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin for war crimes. The warrant means ICC member countries, which include South Africa, are obliged to arrest him as soon as he sets foot on their soil.

In the statement issued by Pretoria on the Putin-Ramaphosa phone call, there is no mention of the BRICS summit.