The UN Secretary General, António Guterres, delivered this Monday to the head of Russian diplomacy, Sergey Lavrov, a letter addressed to President Vladimir Putin, with a proposal to “improve and expand” the Black Sea Grain Agreement.
The information was provided by the office of António Guterres, who indicated that the Grain Agreement was one of the issues discussed between the leader of the United Nations (UN) and the Russian Foreign Minister, in a meeting between the two at the UN headquarters. ., In New York.
“The Secretary General expressed his concern about the obstacles recently encountered by the Joint Focal Point [grupo que facilita a implementação do acordo dos cereais] in its daily operation,” says the statement released by Guterres’ team.
The same source adds that Guterres “handed over to the minister [Lavrov] a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin outlining a proposed roadmap to follow aimed at improving, extending and extending the Agreement, taking into account recently expressed positions by the parties and the risks posed by food insecurity worldwide,” the text states.
A similar letter was addressed to the other two signatories to the agreement, Guterres’ office added, referring to Ukraine and Turkey, which, together with Russia and the UN, were responsible for this initiative signed last summer and aimed at the flow of cereals. and food blocked in Ukrainian ports since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Alongside the grain deal, a memorandum to facilitate Russian exports of food and fertilizer was also signed, but which Moscow says is not being followed.
Russia even admits not to extend the agreement, if there is no progress in fulfilling these commitments.
In light of the Kremlin’s complaints, the Secretary General “took note of the concerns expressed by Russia regarding the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding (…) on the promotion of Russian food products and fertilizers on world markets”, ” provided a detailed description and report on the progress already made in this regard and reiterated the UN’s commitment to continue working to resolve the outstanding issues.”
In addition to this topic, the “situations in Afghanistan and Syria” were also highlighted at the meeting between Guterres and Lavrov.
“The Secretary General also updated Minister Lavrov on the efforts of the UN Secretariat to address the problems of the host country. [da sede da ONU, Estados Unidos]particularly in regards to visas for Russian officials,” the statement concluded.
In this regard, Lavrov had previously assured that Russia “will not forgive” the United States for refusing to grant visas to Russian journalists who intended to accompany him on his trip to the UN headquarters in New York.
“We will not forget, we will not forgive,” Lavrov told reporters, accusing Washington of making a “cowardly” decision.
Russia, one of the five permanent members of the Security Council and with veto power, this month assumed the rotating presidency of the body, which has the power to pass binding resolutions.
Lavrov traveled to New York as part of Russia’s presidency of the Security Council, having chaired a debate on multilateralism today and will lead another meeting on the Middle East on Tuesday.
Since the invasion of Ukraine, Russia has been urged in several UN General Assembly resolutions – approved by large majorities but not binding – to withdraw its troops from the neighboring country.
Wrapped in strong criticism, the Russian presidency of the Security Council has been marked by unusual meetings that have drawn international attention.
On April 5, the Russian ambassador to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, accused Portugal, Spain and Germany of having taken “hundreds” of Ukrainian children from their mothers to place them in reception centers in their respective territories, statements that were rejected by the Portuguese. Government.
That meeting took place less than a month after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes, precisely for his alleged involvement in kidnapping children in Ukraine.
Source: TSF
