The continuation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative after March 18 is absolutely necessary for the whole world. This was announced on March 8 at a joint press conference with UN Secretary General António Guterres by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy .
“We agreed today that the continuation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative after March 18 is absolutely necessary for the whole world. It is also important to continue working for our humanitarian initiative Grain from Ukraine. And within the framework of this initiative, we have already managed to attract almost 200 million dollars and send almost 140,000 tons of Ukrainian raw materials to Europe, Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia and countries that suffer from hunger. I am sure that together with the UN we can considerably strengthen our initiative, as well as the Black Sea Grains Initiative. This will give even more guarantees for global food security,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy told a press conference.
He also said that he had discussed with António Guterres the question of how to end Russia’s nuclear blackmail on all Ukrainian nuclear power plants.
“The Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia should return to full Ukrainian control. This is a question of global security, and not only Ukrainian, ”said the head of Ukraine.
Zelenskyyy called the symbolic date of the UN chief’s visit to Kiev – the day of March 8.
“On this international day of struggle for women’s rights, for international peace, for the protection of the rights and respect of all people, this is what the freedom of peoples and peace between peoples are based on. Unfortunately, now there is such a time that there is a real threat to freedom and international stability, and these are the biggest threats for many, many decades,” the Ukrainian President stressed.
He recalled that the issue of the global role of the UN is being resolved in Ukraine.
Guterres and Zelenskyyy discussed Ukrainian peace initiatives, including a peace formula and the return of hundreds of thousands of deported Ukrainian citizens to Russia.
According to Guterres, the UN’s position is absolutely clear: the Russian invasion of Ukraine is a violation of the UN statute and of international law: “The sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine must be preserved in accordance with the internationally recognized borders of Ukraine. Ukraine. Our ultimate goal is also clear: a just world,” the UN chief said.
He said the Black Sea Grain Initiative ensured the export of 23 million tons of grain from Ukraine.
“Thanks to this, it has been possible to reduce food prices around the world and provide support to developing countries. The food price index fell, fell nearly 20 percent. The export of Ukrainian and Russian food and fertilizers is essential for global food security,” continued António Guterres.
The UN Secretary General stressed the extreme importance of continuing the Black Sea Grain Initiative after March 18.
António Guterres stressed that “mediation efforts to demilitarize the area around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant are very important”.
He also stressed that the UN will continue to work on humanitarian issues, including the exchange of prisoners of war.
“The recent shocking footage of the murder of a Ukrainian soldier without trial is another tragic reminder that the laws of war must be strictly adhered to,” said António Guterres.
This is the third visit by a UN chief to Ukraine since the start of a full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022.
The Black Sea Grain Initiative, or as it is called in the press, “grain agreement”, “grain deal” was signed in Istanbul on July 22, 2022 with the possibility of renewal every 120 days. Under the terms of the “Grain Agreement”, a corridor was created in the Black Sea for the movement of ships carrying grain from Ukrainian ports to the Bosphorus. The Joint Coordination Center is located in Istanbul, which regulates the work of the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
The agreement on the export of Ukrainian food products through the Black Sea expires on March 18.
Director of the World Policy Institute Evgeny Magda notes that Ukraine, thanks to the agreement, managed to export more than twenty million tons of grain.
“This is two times less than what Ukraine exported in the second half of 2021, but this amount is still quite large and covers the needs of many countries, both EU countries and countries in Africa and Therefore, in order to continue the work of the ‘grain deal’, obviously pressure on Russia must be organized,” Magda said in an interview with a correspondent for the Russian media service.
The expert is convinced that Russia is not too interested in continuing the “grain deal”.
“And if she agrees to continue with the deal, she will obviously put additional conditions. The question arises: what after Kiev will the UN Secretary General go to Moscow and negotiate there? asks the analyst.
According to him, disagreements within the Russian military leadership could affect Russia’s position on the issue of extending the “grain agreement”.
“Due to the fact that Shoigu signed the agreement on the Russian side, and he will find himself in this situation again and sign another such agreement, this will replace another part of the criticism of the head of Wagner PMC Prigozhin. Therefore, I think there will be no agreement signing in the near future. Russia will talk about the need to export its grain, fertilizers and where its fertilizers are fertilizers from Belarus. It is a complex scheme, and quick decisions should not be expected, ”notes Evgeny Magda.
He points out that it is advantageous for Russia to maintain informational noise around the agreement and to imitate violent activities.
Deputy Chairman of the All-Ukrainian Agrarian Council Denis Marchuk notes that in 2022, the outbreak of war in Ukraine and the closure of ports led to an increase in food prices worldwide by an average of 13-14%.
“As a result, for poor countries receiving food from Ukraine, it became, if not completely inaccessible, at least difficult to buy. When the initiative started to work, Ukraine fulfilled all the obligations it assumed under the “grain agreement”. And now we meet all the conditions for the maintenance of the corridor, and at every stage of the continuation of the agreement, we talk about the need for an indefinite extension of the agreement,” says Marchuk.
He also notes the fact that the indefinite extension of the “grain agreement” will allow Ukrainian agricultural enterprises to see the prospect of planning.
“Agrarians may have a question – they will conduct sowing campaigns and everything will suddenly stop. At the moment, some farms still have food for 2021, not to mention 2022,” the Ukrainian political scientist points out.
In his opinion, the parties must agree, at a minimum, to continue the agreement for at least the next 120 days.
“Russia has declared that it is ready to continue its participation in the “grain corridor”. Why did they make such a statement? Because they understand that the “grain corridor” will work one way or another. Remember, at the end of October 2022, when they suspended their participation, but the “grain corridor” was still working, because there is an agreement between Turkey, the UN and Ukraine,” Marchuk recalls.
The expert also recalls that when Russia suspended its participation in the “Grain Initiative”, the participants in the process managed to control in fact 35-40 ships per day.
According to him, the ports of “Greater Odessa” now operate at fifty percent load, and they can be loaded even more. I think that the Mykolaiv region will not be included in this agreement”, underlines Denis Marchuk.
