Russia said on Tuesday it saw “no reason” to extend the deal on Ukraine’s grain exports that expires in July, as Moscow complained for months about obstacles to its own deliveries of farm products. “Under these conditions, it is obvious that there is no reason to continue (the agreement) which expires on July 17,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Russia regularly threatens to withdraw from this Ukraine grain deal concluded in July 2022 with the patronage of the United Nations and Turkey.
Russia accuses Western countries
Moscow complains in particular that its agricultural sector, one of the largest producers in the world, is affected by the sanctions adopted by the West, which “block Russian agricultural exports”. Russia also accuses Ukraine of blowing up a major oil pipeline linking the Russian city of Togliatti with the Ukrainian port of Odessa, which was used for the export of ammonia and fertilizers, in early June. If it had been disabled since the start of the Russian offensive in February 2022, Moscow was campaigning for it to be restarted, until the explosion.
Russia finally accuses the Occidentals of accumulating the exports of Ukrainian cereals destined for Africa and Asia, transforming the accord into “a purely commercial export of Ukrainian food to the well-nourished countries”, according to the Russian minister Foreign Affairs. According to Moscow, the poorest countries received only 2.6% of the agricultural freight sent from Ukraine, compared to 81% to “high-income and upper-middle-income countries”.
Record of Ukrainian ships stranded for a week.
Ukraine, for its part, accuses Russia of having stopped the registration of Ukrainian ships since June 26, causing the blocking of the implementation of the agreement. According to Ukraine’s Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov, 29 ships loaded with 1.4 million tons of grain are currently waiting in the Bosphorus Strait due to a lack of inspections.
This agreement, which helped alleviate the world food crisis caused by the conflict in Ukraine, has been extended several times, the last one in May, after intense negotiations. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in June that he was “concerned” by its extension.
Source: BFM TV
