Russia’s agriculture minister, the RIA news agency reported on Sunday that Russia has no interest in prolonging the Black Sea grain deal, according to Dmitry Patrushev.

He went on to say that while this is largely a political choice, Russia will still export grain because it has buyers.

“Our grain export volumes, taking into account the winding down of the grain deal, have by no means fallen, they even slightly increased,” RIA quoted Patrushev as saying.

Russia withdrew in July from the deal which had allowed Ukraine to safely export grain from its Black Sea ports. Russia says it quit the deal because the arrangement was not delivering grain to the poorest countries, and because it still faces barriers to its own exports of grain and fertiliser.