Kremlin: EU reluctance to reconnect agricultural bank to SWIFT 'non-constructive'

The Kremlin said on Monday that the European Union's reluctance to reconnect Russia's state agricultural bank to the SWIFT international payment network showed the bloc's "non-constructive stance" on the Black Sea grain deal.

Moscow has previously said Rosselkhozbank's return to SWIFT is a condition for its future renewal of the deal, which permits Ukraine to export grain safely from its Black Sea ports.

The Russian newspaper Izvestia had quoted EU foreign affairs spokesman Peter Stano as saying that Rosselkhozbank could only be readmitted to SWIFT once the conflict in Ukraine was over.