Grain loaded on ships at Rostov-on-Don port, Russia on July 26, 2022. (photo: AFP/VNA)

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said senior UN trade official Rebeca Grynspan met with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin for a "positive" discussion in Geneva on Wednesday, but gave no further detail of what has been discussed.

On July 22, the United Nations, Turkey, Ukraine, and Russia agreed on what was described by UN chief Antonio Guterres as a package deal to restart Ukraine's Black Sea grain and fertilizer exports and facilitate Russian shipments.

The United States said that Russian food and fertilizer is not subject to sanctions imposed over Moscow's special military operation in Ukraine. Russia has called for the removal of logistic sanctions that prevent the free access of Russian grain and fertilisers to world markets.