Moscow, 20 July 2023 (dpa/MIA) - After the widely criticized termination of the agreement on the export of Ukrainian grain, Russian President Vladimir Putin has not ruled out a resumption of the deal - but only under Russian conditions.

Moscow had originally been assured by the West that several demands would be met, Putin said on Wednesday at a meeting with government representatives, according to the Interfax agency. "As soon as all these conditions we agreed on earlier are met ..., we will immediately return to this agreement."

Russia, which has been waging a full-scale war against Ukraine for some 17 months, declared the key agreement on the export of Ukrainian grain terminated on Monday amid widespread international protest.

Moscow claims that Western states have not sufficiently implemented the promised facilitations for Russian fertilizer and food exports. Internationally, on the other hand, Russia has been criticized for using hunger as a weapon as Ukrainian grain exports are important for poorer countries in the global south.

Moreover, Russia recently reacted to Kiev's demand to resume the agreement without Moscow's participation with new threatening gestures: The Russian Defence Ministry announced that ships in the Black Sea heading for Ukrainian ports would be considered potential military targets from Thursday.

Photo: MIA archive