Access to the SWIFT payment system is one of Russia's main demands in negotiations over the future of the Black Sea grain export deal, which the United Nations says helps to tackle a global food crisis that has been aggravated by the Ukraine war.
The Kremlin has repeatedly warned the deal will not be renewed beyond May 18 unless the West removes obstacles to Russian grain and fertilizer exports, including the financing and insurance of exports.
A Russian source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) had allowed JPMorgan to process the transaction.
"JPMorgan received permission from OFAC to carry out payment for agricultural procure - but the process is difficult," said the first Russian source.
A second Russian source said that JPMorgan and Russian Agricultural Bank, which is under US and European Union sanctions, were both specifically given exemptions to execute a single transaction.
It involved grain and was denominated in US dollars, according to the second Russian source. A third source also said the transaction was for grain.
Reuters could not ascertain who the exporter was or the destination of the supply.
The JPMorgan route was proposed as an alternative to reconnecting Russian Agricultural Bank (known as Rosselkhozbank) to SWIFT, but could be terminated at any time, the first Russian source said. "This cannot replace SWIFT," the source said.
Another source familiar with the transaction said the US State Department and US Treasury had asked JPMorgan to carry out the very limited and highly monitored transaction in relation to the export of agricultural materials, which occurred this month.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday told a briefing at the United Nations that one bank kindly consented to finance one operation, but that was not an acceptable long-term solution, Lavrov did not name the bank.
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