MOSCOW, June 7. /TASS/: Moscow will make efforts to find out the circumstances of the explosion of the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline, but it is already obvious that it was never Kiev that was interested in resuming its operation, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
"We will, of course, make efforts to find out the circumstances of the accident, but we can already say that the only country that was never interested in reviving the pipeline was, of course, [Ukraine and] the Kiev regime," she said.
According to the diplomat, the restoration of the damaged ammonia pipeline will take one to three months. "According to preliminary estimates, the repair and restoration work [on the ammonia pipeline] will take about one to three months, provided that the site is accessible," Zakharova said.
The diplomat pointed out that the ammonia pipeline was key to global food security, with 2 million tons of raw material pumped through it annually and used to produce fertilizer "enough to feed 45 million people."
"Thus, the Kiev regime has not only eliminated the physical possibility of supplying ammonia to world markets, but it has also dealt a blow to the overall efforts to combat hunger and help needy countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, as well as to the personal efforts of UN Secretary-General [Antonio] Guterres, who has put forward a separate initiative on the ammonia pipeline and, more generally, proposed the Istanbul grain deal, whose humanitarian significance is unfortunately diminishing before our eyes," she added.
Ammonia pipeline depressurization
On Monday, the head of the regional administration Oleg Sinegubov announced the depressurization of an ammonia pipeline in the Kupyansk district of the Kharkov Region. Headquarters were deployed to eliminate the consequences of the incident; specialists are taking air samples.
The resumption of operation of the ammonia pipeline between Togliatti and Odessa is part of the package deal that envisaged the export of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea. The grain deal was extended for two months from May 18. The Russian Foreign Ministry had earlier pointed out that the part of the agreement concerning obligations to Moscow had not been fulfilled. Moscow insists on reconnecting Russian Agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank) back to the SWIFT system; resuming supplies of agricultural machinery, spare parts and service, lifting restrictions on insurance and reinsurance; lifting the ban on access to ports; resuming operation of the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline and unblocking foreign assets and accounts of Russian companies involved in the production and transportation of food and fertilizers. In connection with the extension of the deal, Moscow said it hoped that its conditions would be met, otherwise the deal would not be extended.
