The UN secretary-general said on Thursday the organization was “deeply committed to resuming the Black Sea initiative,” which allowed grain exports from Ukraine, but that “mutual guarantees” were needed.
“Contrary to what has been said recently, we continue to participate actively, especially in aspects such as the access of the Russian Federation to financial markets and other aspects to facilitate its exports,” said António Guterres.
“We are making efforts to restore an environment where mutual guarantees can be given to solve the problem,” he told a news conference in Jakarta.
“The difficulties we face in gaining the goodwill of other partners around the world are dramatically increased when the Russian Federation bombs ports and grain warehouses, because this creates doubt as to whether or not Russia is ready to retake the Black Sea initiative. And that generates some resistance in other countries,” he said.
Guterres defended the positive impact of the grain transport agreement through the Black Sea, considering that most of Ukraine’s exports went to developing countries and that, globally, prices have fallen.
“Most of Ukraine’s exports went to developing countries, although an important part went to developed countries,” said the Portuguese, questioned by Lusa about the Russian accusations about this agreement.
Moscow unilaterally abandoned the protocol in July, with President Vladimir Putin stating that “of the 32.8 million tons exported from Ukraine, more than 70% ended up in rich countries, mainly in the European Union,” with countries most in need receiving only 3%. of the grains that left the Ukrainian ports, that is, “less than a million tons”.
“We have to recognize that when a large quantity of cereals is introduced into the world market, prices go down and when prices go down, everyone benefits. When this is interrupted, prices go up and when they go up, everyone suffers,” stressed the secretary. UN General.
Guterres spoke at a press conference in Jakarta, before the opening of the Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the United Nations, one of the meetings that coincides with the 43rd. ASEAN Summit in Jakarta.
Earlier this week Putin refused to sign a new deal to transport grain across the Black Sea until the West complies with Moscow’s demands.
At a news conference, Putin accused the West of continuing to “block Russian demands” over the deal. “They refuse to lift the sanctions on the export of our cereals and fertilizers, to resume the supply of agricultural machinery and spare parts,” he explained, after a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in southern Russia.
Together with the UN, Erdogan was one of the mediators of the original agreement, known as the Black Sea Initiative and signed in the summer of 2022 in Istanbul, which allowed Ukraine to export its grain production safely.
At the time it suspended its participation in the deal, Moscow admitted it had returned to a deal if it contemplated the reintegration of its agricultural bank, Rosselkhozbank, into the SWIFT international banking system, the lifting of sanctions on spare parts for machinery agriculture, the unblocking of transport logistics and insurance and unfreezing of assets.
The Russian side also demanded the resumption of operation of the Togliatti-Odessa oil pipeline, intended for the export of ammonia, an essential component of fertilizers.
Ukraine and Russia are among the largest cereal producers in the world and global supply was seriously affected by the war between the two countries in February last year, with an impact on food security in the most vulnerable countries and an escalation in the price of the goods.
Since the end of the deal, Russia has been heavily bombarding southern Ukrainian ports and grain silos, while kyiv has been looking for alternative export routes.
On the sidelines of the summit, Guterres will hold a brief meeting on Thursday with Xanana Gusmão, Prime Minister of East Timor, which has observer status in ASEAN.
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Source: TSF
