MOSCOW, April 1. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin asked at a session with permanent members of the Russian Security Council to talk about the meeting with the United States representatives on the resumption of the Black Sea initiative, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday.

"The president asked to talk about other areas of work with Americans, including about what has been discussed since March 24 in Riyadh, where experts from Russia and the United States met to discuss the revitalization, resumption and revival of the so-called Black Sea initiative, the grain initiative," Lavrov told journalists.

"At that time, during the talks in Riyadh, we highly evaluated, the president upheld that assessment, the willingness of the United States to help eliminate the obstacles that have been created by illegal unilateral sanctions on the export of Russian grain products and Russian fertilizers, thereby creating tension in the world markets, first of all, creating difficulties for developing countries, for which access to the food products and fertilizers they need has been restricted," the minister said.

Russia and the United States held consultations in Riyadh on March 24 that lasted more than 12 hours. The Russian delegation was led by Grigory Karasin, chairman of the Federation Council’s committee on international affairs, and Sergey Beseda, advisor to the Director of the Federal Security Service. The US delegation included Andrew Peek, senior director for Europe at the National Security Council, and Michael Anton, director of Policy Planning Staff at the Department of State, as well as aides to Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz.