US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Russia to resume the deal facilitating the export of Ukrainian grains to the Black Sea, which Moscow suspended on Monday to prevent further price hikes.
“We are already seeing the market react and prices are rising. This is unthinkable. The agreement must be restored as soon as possible,” the state secretary said at a press conference.
The head of US diplomacy pointed out that about 32 million tons of food could leave Ukraine during the grain deal’s time since August last year.
Blinken accused Moscow of using hunger as a weapon and said he was convinced that all countries would realize that “Russia is responsible for killing hungry people all over the world”.
“This has effects far beyond Ukraine and Russia. It affects countries around the world and millions of people who depend on these grains. So we certainly urge Russia to participate in good faith and allow ships to pass freely .” in the Black Sea, deputy Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said at another news conference.
According to White House Homeland Security spokesman John Kirby, Russia’s decision is “irresponsible and dangerous”, affecting millions of vulnerable people around the world. “We urge Russia to withdraw it immediately,” he insisted.
Kirby noted that states will continue to work with their allies to try to extract grain from Ukraine.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also condemned Russia’s decision on Twitter today, despite the efforts of Turkey and the UN.
The Norwegian politician added that “Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine continues to harm millions of vulnerable people around the world”, adding his criticism to other condemnatory voices from Kiev’s main allies, such as the European Commission, France, the United Kingdom and Germany.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed that “even without Russia, every effort should be made to use this corridor” in the Black Sea.
“We are not afraid,” he said in a comment shared by his spokesman, Serguei Nykyforov, on the social network Facebook.
The suspension also drew comments from UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who warned that hundreds of millions of people will pay for Russia’s decision to break the agreement.
Turkey’s president, in turn, said he believed his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, “wants to keep” the deal.
“We will take steps in that direction, with an appeal to Putin, without waiting for August,” he said.
A year ago, under the mediation of the UN and Ankara, Moscow and Kiev agreed on a series of measures to ensure that ships loaded with Ukrainian grain from Black Sea posts could access the international market in the midst of the Russian government-instigated war. invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, dealing with two of the largest exporters in the world.
Earlier this month, Russia stated that Moscow saw no reason to extend the agreement and decided to suspend it because the sanctions it faces for aggression against Ukraine, compliance with the part of the pact that also restricts the export of Russian food and fertilizer.
There will be a virtual meeting of the Contact Group for the Defense of Ukraine on Tuesday, but according to Singh, that meeting will focus on the Ukrainian counter-offensive and Kiev’s needs on the battlefield.
Source: DN
