OREANDA-NEWS The time for the grain deal has passed, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said.

"The grain deal - its time is probably over, after all. There is, of course, an understanding that effective and efficient efforts are needed in the field of food security," Ryabkov said at a press conference at Rossiya Segodnya.

He recalled that the European Union, in fact, prevented the implementation of all the provisions of the "grain deal" and the equalization of the situation on the food markets by obtaining food from Russia.