West makes fuss over Ukraine's grain export to take control over Black Sea: Top Russian diplomat

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday that the West artificially makes a fuss around the problem of Ukraine's grain export to take control over the Black Sea.

Speaking at a news conference in Indonesia's Denpasar city, Lavrov noted that in order to organize Ukraine's grain export, the Western countries insist on creating "a monitoring mechanism" with the participation of NATO military forces that will control the passages from the Black Sea to Istanbul Strait and further to the Mediterranean Sea.

With Türkiye's help, Russia is "ready to provide security of convoys" to the Istanbul Strait, Mediterranean Sea, and the buyers' markets, he said.

"The trouble is that Western colleagues want to create some kind of international monitoring mechanism for this process with the participation of NATO forces. We understand perfectly their plot," the minister stressed.

Lavrov said that during his speech at the G20 about the sources of the food crisis, he reminded the forced introduction of "green transformation" and interference in market mechanisms, including artificial regulations of supply and demand.

Russia, for its part, is ready for negotiations with the Turkish and Ukrainian colleagues about the issues related to the grain export, and also ready to supply to the global market available energy resources, he said.

Lavrov, referring to the position of the Western countries on Ukraine, said that while they are calling for the peace talks, they also continue supplying Ukraine with weapons to ensure its victory on the battlefield.

"If the West does not want (peace) talks, but Ukraine's victory over Russia on the battlefield -- because both opinions sound -- then there is nothing to talk about with the West because it does not allow Ukraine to move to the peace process," he said.

Asked about the resignation of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Lavrov said Johnson showed himself as a man who chased publicity and held on to the power.

Johnson enforced an aggressive policy toward Russia, using as a pretext the events in Ukraine, and his activities sharply increased after the Brexit, Lavrov said, explaining it by London's endeavor to remain an important power.

He noted that in the recent months, the UK has been building an alliance with the Baltic States, Poland, and Ukraine to have a foothold on the continent for promoting its policies, which will not always take into account the interests of the EU.

- Lavrov criticizes G7 for boycotting G20 events

Lavrov criticized G7 countries for not coming to the G20 welcoming reception, organized by Indonesia, saying: "This is their understanding of protocol, politeness, and rules of ethics."

He added that the meeting in general was misused by the West. Instead of following the G20 mandate and discuss the issues of economy and finding solutions for the sustainable development, the Western countries turned the G20 to another platform for the anti-Russian propaganda, he said.

"It is obvious that they (Western countries) did not use the G20 for the purposes for which it was created," he stressed.

Lavrov added that he held several fruitful bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the G20 meeting with colleagues from Argentina, Brazil, India, China, Türkiye, South Korea, and Indonesia.

All meetings were held in a friendly manner and confirmed the mutual stance on further development of ties, he said.