Appeals to Russia and negotiations have brought nothing. The agreement on the export of Ukrainian grain will not be extended for the time being. This is bad news for many countries around the world.
Russia has stopped the agreement to export Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea. As soon as all requirements for the export of Russian grain are met, Moscow will return to fulfilling the agreement, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to the Russian state news agency TASS. After several extensions, the agreement with Russia and Ukraine was officially valid until late Monday evening (11:00 p.m. CEST).
Peskov denied that the current attack on the Crimean bridge would affect the future of the grain deal. “These are two unrelated events.” Even before the attack, President Vladimir Putin made Russia’s position clear, he said on Monday. The Kremlin chief said last week that there was no basis for extending the agreement.
allegations from Moscow
The Russian Foreign Ministry made serious allegations against Ukraine, the West and the United Nations in this regard. “Contrary to the declarations of humanitarian goals, the export of Ukrainian foodstuffs was almost immediately put on a purely commercial basis and was directed to the end to fulfill the selfish interests of Kiev and the West,” the ministry’s press release said.
In addition, the corridor at sea set up for grain exports was repeatedly misused to shell Russian civilian and military targets. The UN, in turn, has silently ignored all violations of the agreement by Kiev, according to allegations from Moscow.
Grain export important for poorer countries
There was initially no comment from the United Nations, which brokered the agreement together with Turkey. UN Secretary-General António Guterres plans to appear before the press on Monday afternoon. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said through his spokesman that even without Russia, everything should be done for the further functioning of the sea corridor for export of grain.
This halts the transport of millions of tons of Ukrainian grain, mainly corn and wheat, by sea, although exports are mainly important for poorer countries. According to Russian sources, around 1,000 ships from three Ukrainian ports have exported around 32.8 million tons of grain since the start of the agreement.
Kremlin boss Putin had blocked himself against an extension until the end. In his view, promises made to Russia in the course of the agreement have not been fulfilled. On Thursday, Putin spoke of the possibility of suspending Russia’s participation in the agreement until the pledges were fulfilled.
Moscow is calling for sanctions to be eased
In return, Moscow demanded relief from sanctions for its fertilizer and food exports, such as insurance, freight and financing. Specifically, Russia had demanded that its state agricultural bank be freed from Western sanctions in order to be able to conduct business.
In addition, Russia wanted to force the restart of an ammonia pipeline from its territory to Odessa, from where the gas needed for fertilizer production was to be shipped.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan still expects the agreement to be extended. “I think that despite today’s announcement, Russian President Putin is in favor of continuing this humanitarian bridge,” Erdogan told journalists.
He announced talks with Putin. An extension of the agreement could be possible before the Russian President’s visit to Turkey, which is planned for August, Erdogan said. Negotiations in this regard are already underway. Berlin also called on Moscow to reconsider its position.
Agreement had been extended several times
After the start of its war of aggression against Ukraine, Russia also blocked the neighboring country’s seaports. As Ukraine is a major agricultural exporter, concerns about rising food prices and hunger crises in the poorest countries grew worldwide.
Last summer, the so-called grain agreement was negotiated with the mediation of the United Nations and Turkey. This allowed Ukraine to export across the Black Sea, albeit on a limited scale. Representatives of the UN, Russia, Ukraine and Turkey inspected the cargo in Istanbul. The agreement has been extended several times, most recently by two months in mid-May.
Ukraine and Russia are important suppliers of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other foodstuffs to countries in Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia. Before the start of the war in February 2022, they supplied almost a quarter of the world’s grain exports. Russia was also the world’s largest exporter of fertilizers.
In 2022, despite the war, Ukraine was able to export more than 38 million tons of grain thanks to the grain deal, generating revenues equivalent to over 8 billion euros. The income is important for the national budget of the country, which is defending itself against the Russian war of aggression. Almost 75 percent of exports went abroad via the ports on the Black Sea and the Danube. Compared to 2021, sea exports fell by around 23 percent.
Ukraine wants to operate grain corridor
Despite the lack of security guarantees, Ukraine has announced that it will continue on its own. “Even without Russia, everything must be done so that we can use this Black Sea corridor,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, according to a statement by his spokesman Serhiy Nykyforov on Facebook.
According to Zelenskyy, ship owners are ready to call at Ukrainian ports for grain deliveries. The agreement between Ukraine, Turkey and the UN is still in force without Moscow. Only the separate agreement between Russia, Turkey and the UN was terminated. Zelensky did not say how the ships and their goods should be insured in the war zone.
Farmers’ association sees no acute grain shortages
After the temporary stop of the agreement, the farmers’ association does not see any bottlenecks on the German and European market for the time being. The situation is different according to politicians and experts in other regions of the world.
The deputy general secretary of the farmers’ association, Udo Hemmerling, told the German press agency: “Should there be a longer interruption of the Black Sea route for grain, oilseeds and fertilizers, there could be supply bottlenecks and price increases in global agricultural trade again.” This would primarily be at the expense of importers of bread grain in Arabia, Africa and Asia. “In Central Europe, on the other hand, no supply bottlenecks are to be expected, since the local harvest is available here.”
In view of the current situation, Hemmerling spoke of a “political poker game by Russia” at the expense of people in developing and emerging countries. “In fact, Russia has significant vested interests in not losing global market access for its grain exports.” For the farmers’ association it is clear that the trade in food must not be blocked even in war.
German reactions
Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is now demanding that Russian President Vladimir Putin reinstate the grain agreement with Ukraine immediately. She called on Putin “to refrain from using hunger as a weapon again in this brutal war of aggression. In the spirit of peace in Ukraine, but in the spirit of peace in the world,” said the Green politician. Putin’s actions make it clear that the Russian President “takes no account of the world’s weakest,” said the Federal Foreign Minister.
From the beginning it was made clear that the sanctions against Russia exempt food and important medicines, said Baerbock. “The fact that the Russian president turns this on its head every time and uses grain as a weapon makes it clear with what brutality he is waging this war.”
In the dispute over the export of Ukrainian grain, Federal Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to return to the negotiating table. “There must be an end to the use of hunger as a weapon,” said the Green politician. “Putin is taking the poorest of the poor in this world hostage for his horrible warmongering.”
The Greens chairman, Omid Nouripour, told the dpa: “By stopping the grain agreement, the Kremlin is deliberately exacerbating the global food crisis.” Russia bears direct responsibility for millions of starving people. “It is correct that Germany is continuing to seek an extension of the agreement,” he added.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz also criticized the Russian halt to the agreement. This is “bad news” not only for Ukraine, but also for the rest of the world, said the SPD politician. The step shows “that Russia does not feel responsible for good coexistence in the world.”
In Berlin, deputy government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann appealed to the Kremlin to “make it possible to extend the grain agreement further and not settle this dispute on the backs of the poorest on the planet.” In addition, she advocated that such agreements should no longer be limited to a short period of time in the future, but instead allow Ukraine to export grain over the long term.
Federal Development Minister Svenja Schulze called for more independence from Russia. “The following applies to the future: where Russia can use wheat as a weapon, it will do so. The lesson to be learned from this uncertainty is that you have to make yourself more independent of Putin’s arbitrariness,” said the SPD politician.
Jürgen Hardt (CDU), the foreign policy spokesman for the Union parliamentary group in the Bundestag, condemned Moscow’s freeze on the agreement as “renewed proof of Putin’s criminal and criminal character.” The blockade of grain exports had no impact on the immediate course of the war. “Putin is only concerned with spreading misery and destruction.”
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
