The EU wants to reconnect a sanctioned Russian bank to the global financial system. The bloc is trying to secure Putin's support to extend the Black Sea grain deal, which expires shortly. The concession wants to let the state-owned Russian Agricultural Bank handle payments related to grain exports. The news of the potential concession came just as Gennady Gatilov, Russia's envoy to the United Nations, told the pro-Kremlin Izvestia newspaper there are no grounds to maintain the "status quo" of the Black Sea grain deal. The European Commission and the Russian Agricultural Bank did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Insider.

---

Persons: —, SWIFT, Vladimir Putin's, Gennady Gatilov, Gatilov, Swift, Izvestia Organizations: Service, Financial Times, Russian Agricultural Bank, United Nations, Moscow, Kremlin Izvestia, UN Food and Agriculture Organization Food, European Commission Locations: Russian, Russia, Ukraine, Moscow