Image: DANIEL MIHAILESCU (AFP)
At the same time, Moscow warned other states against resuming the agreement on their own. Continuing without Russian participation would be risky, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday, according to the Interfax agency. “It’s a zone immediately adjacent to the combat zone, where there are certain risks without proper security guarantees.” Because Ukraine uses these waters for military activities, explains Peskov. He was responding to suggestions that Turkey could protect freighters carrying Ukrainian grain.
At the same time, the Kremlin spokesman rejected international criticism of Russia’s withdrawal from the grain export agreement. Russia is fulfilling its commitments and will continue to supply grain to poor countries. In addition, Russia is already in contact with African countries.
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, had previously called for exports across the Black Sea to continue without Russian consent. This should be done in cooperation with the United Nations and Turkey, through whose mediation the agreement was concluded in July 2022. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Monday that he wanted to change his mind about the agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Turkey was a mediator of the grain agreement alongside the United Nations.
Russia let the agreement expire on Monday because it does not see its own demands for easier exports of fertilizers and agricultural products being met. The decision triggered a lot of criticism internationally – also because Ukrainian grain is important for supplying other countries with food.
Even during the war, Ukraine reportedly remained the World Food Program’s (WFP) top wheat supplier in 2022, supplying more than half of WFP’s global wheat procurement. When the agreement expires, pressure on food prices could increase, which would particularly affect people in poorer countries. At least some of the relief is provided by trade routes specially developed by the EU and Ukraine via rivers, rails and roads.
According to EU figures, 41 million tons of grain, oilseeds and other agricultural products were exported from Ukraine via these so-called solidarity corridors between the beginning of the war and the end of June. It was initially unclear to what extent the solidarity trade routes could be further expanded. In addition, exporting via this route was relatively expensive in the past.
Source: Nachrichten
