Italian MFA says migration wave to follow, should grain deal be paused

Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Monday that he foresees the risk of a new powerful migration wave from Africa due to the crisis in Sudan and in case the grain deal is terminated.

"Instability due to grain and food shortages of basic necessities will lead to a new wave of migration. We would not like to see this scenario (an end to the grain deal - TASS) because it would affect the lives of millions living in poverty. It would provoke a crisis in Central Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, which, together with the war in Sudan, threatens to aggravate the migration problem," he said in an interview the newspaper Il Messagero published on Monday.

He said Rome hoped for effective mediation in this matter by Turkey, which "remains an important partner in NATO and in maintaining stability in the Mediterranean" regardless of the outcome of the presidential elections in that country.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Vershinin told the media after negotiations on the grain deal by Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Nations, which took place on May 10-11 in Istanbul, that the Russian part of the deal would stop working, if Moscow had no guarantees that its demands would be met by May 18. They concern exports of agricultural products and fertilizers, reconnection of Rosselkhozbank to SWIFT and some other issues.