Damage to the Tolyatti-Odesa ammonia pipeline in Ukraine has ‘complicated’ the extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.
Speaking at a press briefing in Moscow, Peskov said such an ‘accident’ can ‘only negatively’ affect the fate of the grain deal, because restoration of supplies through the pipeline was one of Russia’s conditions for signing it.
‘You know that this topic (restoration of ammonia supplies via the pipeline) figured as an integral part of the half of the deal that concerned us. Therefore, let’s just say this is another very complicated moment in terms of extending the deal,’ he said.
Russia and Ukraine on Wednesday accused each other of blasting the Tolyatti-Odesa ammonia pipeline.
Moscow claims Kyiv’s armed forces mined and exploded the infrastructure after the UN officials increased pressure on Ukraine demanding the resumption of supplies of Russian fertilizers.
Kharkiv Governor Oleh Synyehubov said Russia’s shelling of the region caused the leak.
– Kakhovka dam
Turning to the breach of the Kakhovka dam, Peskov said though Russian President Vladimir Putin continues monitoring the situation and giving orders to rescuers battling the flood, he does not plan to visit the area.
Asked about the North Atlantic Alliance’s invitation for India to join NATO+ format, Peskov said the organization destabilizes the situation in the regions where it is present.
Commenting on media reports claiming the US Central Intelligence Agency was aware of Ukraine’s plans to organize sabotage at Nord Stream gas pipelines that were used to transport Russian gas to Germany, Peskov said: ‘We do not know to what extent such reports correspond to reality, in my opinion, but no one doubts that something is wrong.’
The official noted that the truth could be revealed in an ‘urgent, independent, transparent international investigation,’ which is not being conducted at the moment.
‘No one has any doubts that this is a deliberate sabotage. We have already talked about the data that we have, about the possible involvement of the Anglo-Saxons in this terrorist act directed against the international energy infrastructure,’ he said.
– ‘Russian state, entrepreneurs robbed by West’
Commenting on the attempts to confiscate frozen Russian assets, Peskov said the West has robbed Russia and its entrepreneurs.
“Naturally, our entrepreneurs and the state itself were all robbed in the West. In different formats, all were robbed in the West,’ he stressed.
According to the official, the state, and entrepreneurs are trying to come up with some ways to defend their interests and get back the blocked, seized assets that belong to them.
‘This is a very difficult, very long way because those who committed this robbery – the countries of the collective West – violated all the basic rules and principles and encroached on property rights,’ he said.
About reports claiming that Russian investors are preparing a lawsuit against financial services companies Euroclear and Clearstream to unblock assets abroad, Peskov said Russia and its citizens are ‘limited in their rights to use European courts to defend their just claims.’
