Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday asked the UN and Turkey to extend, without Russia’s participation, the initiative allowing the export of Ukrainian grains through the Black Sea after Moscow’s departure.
“I have sent official letters to the president of Türkiye [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan and the UN Secretary General, [António] Guterres, proposing to continue the Black Sea Grains Initiative or its equivalent in a trilateral format,” Zelensky emphasized in his usual evening address to the nation.
Kiev authorities want the international community to guarantee, even without Moscow’s consent, freedom of navigation in the Black Sea, which has been violated by the Russian military since it launched the full-scale military invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
“Ukraine, UN and Turkey (…) can jointly ensure the functionality of the food corridor and the surveillance of ships” that until now, despite the restrictions imposed by the Russian side, the maritime outflow of Ukrainian grains has been possible despite the restrictions imposed by the Russian invasion, he added.
The Ukrainian head of state recalled that the agreement has Turkey and the UN as signatories and “remains valid” despite Russia’s refusal to extend it.
“All that is needed is its careful implementation and the world’s decisive pressure on the terrorist state,” Zelensky said, referring to Russia.
The Ukrainian president recalled that the grain agreement, with which Russia pledged to the UN and Turkey in July 2023 to allow the export of grains through three Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea, allowed 33 million tons of agricultural products to reach 45 countries.
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.
The agreement expired at 00:00 today (22:00 in Lisbon), after the end of the term set in the last two-month extension in May.
Moscow’s suspension of the agreement prompted remarks 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.
The United Kingdom, France and Germany, among other European allies, also condemned Russia’s suspension of the Black Sea agreements, as did Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa, who warned that part of Russia’s suspension of the grain deal was “very bad news” is. that could lead to a “global food crisis”.
Source: DN
