United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Russia to return to a deal allowing the safe Black Sea export of Ukrainian grain in line with a proposal he made to President Vladimir Putin, writes Reuters.

Russia quit the agreement a week ago, saying that demands to improve its own food and fertilizer exports had not been met, and that not enough Ukraine grain had reached the poorest countries under the Black Sea deal.

“With the termination of the Black Sea Initiative, the most vulnerable will pay the highest price. When food prices rise, everybody pays for it. This is especially devastating for vulnerable countries struggling to feed their people”, - said Guterres.

He had written to Putin on July 11 in a final effort to save the deal. He proposed Russia extend it - with a daily limit of four ships traveling to Ukraine and four ships leaving - in return for connecting a subsidiary of Russia"s Agricultural Bank, Rosselkhozbank, to the SWIFT global payments system. A key demand by Moscow has been reconnecting Rosselkhozbank to SWIFT. The European Union cut it off in June 2022.

“I call on the Russian Federation to return to the implementation of the Black Sea Initiative, in line with my latest proposal. I urge the global community to stand united for effective solutions in this essential effort”, - noted Guterres.