MOSCOW: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said during a news conference with his Turkish counterpart on Friday that Russia could work outside the Black Sea grain deal if Western countries maintain what he called “obstacles”.

Lavrov said that Russian grain and fertilizer exports were affected by a lack of access to insurance and to the SWIFT financial messaging system.

Cargill to halt grain loadings at its Russian export terminal

He called on European countries that he said have a surplus of Ukrainian grain to donate some of it to poor countries.