Source: UN keeps several employees in grain deal coordination center

ISTANBUL, Oct 30 (PRIME) -- The U.N. has left several employees in the Joint Coordination Center for the Black Sea Grain Initiative who are ready to potentially resume the deal, a source in the center told PRIME on Monday.

"The U.N. Secretariat has left a reduced number of staff at the former Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul to support continuing contacts with the sides of the deal on a possible restart of the Black Sea initiative and to guarantee readiness to resume the operations fast and effectively if there is an agreement on the matter," the source said.

Moscow left the deal on July 18. President Vladimir Putin said in August that Russia was ready to return to it in case of switching the Russian Agricultural Bank to SWIFT. The Russian staff left the coordination center, and the last ship was inspected July 17.

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