On Friday afternoon, the United Nations hosted a meeting of the UN Security Council, which was officially devoted to “achieving peace and security in Ukraine”, but many speakers spoke of the need to extend the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
The Black Sea Grain Initiative is an agreement between Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the UN on the export of grain and other agricultural products from Ukraine via the Black Sea. Part of the agreement between Russia and the UN, in particular, is also the removal of restrictions on the access of Russian agricultural products to the world market. The deal expires on Saturday, March 18.
Martin Griffiths, UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, devoted his speech to the importance of this agreement. He said the signing of this agreement last year was an important step in tackling the global food crisis. Immediately after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine , grain exports from Ukraine came to a halt and food prices around the world jumped dramatically.
“The deal ‘calmed’ the markets and food prices continued to fall,” Griffiths recalls. — During the operation of the Black Sea Grains Initiative since August last year, about 25 million tons of agricultural products were exported from Ukraine. The World Food Program was able to send over half a million tonnes of wheat for humanitarian purposes to Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Yemen.
According to Griffiths, UN Secretary-General António Guterres and his team are doing everything they can to see the initiative scaled up. The agreement was not concluded directly between Russia and Ukraine, but through intermediaries, which were Turkey and the UN. During the negotiations on its extension, differences emerged between the parties. Russia claims that many countries, due to international sanctions, prevent the export of its agricultural products, including fertilizers. The Russian Federation demands to extend the agreement for only 60 days.
“To sum up: if Washington, Brussels and London really have an interest in continuing the export of food from Ukraine through the humanitarian maritime corridor in their interest, then they have two months to withdraw from their sanctions the entire chain of operations accompanying Russian agriculture. exports,” Vasily Nebenzya, Russia’s permanent representative to the UN, told a Security Council meeting.
However, other participants in the meeting noted that Russian agricultural products are not subject to sanctions and that Russia simply benefits from rising food prices in the world.
“We know, and the rest of the world knows, that Russian food exports are at least at the same level as before the war,” US Permanent Representative to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said during the interview. Of the reunion. — When the Russian government says that Russia is not allowed to export grain and fertilizers, the figures show that this is not the case at all. We have made serious efforts to eliminate all obstacles to Russian exports in the public and private sectors. Export sanctions are therefore not a problem.
A similar view was expressed by the representative of the European Union to the UN, Olaf Skoog.
“The export of fertilizer is excluded from sanctions,” he told a Security Council meeting. — UN data shows that total Russian fertilizer exports to developing countries remained stable in volume in 2022 compared to the previous year. In addition, according to the World Agriculture Organization, Russian fertilizer export earnings increased by 70% in the first 10 months of last year compared to the same period in 2021. Russia has forgot to mention that it imposes taxes and quotas on its grain and fertilizers. This leads to an artificial increase in world prices and an increase in the income of Russian companies at the expense of the most needy people on the planet.
The Ukrainian representative stressed that difficult conditions for agriculture have developed in Ukraine – 50,000 square meters. miles of agricultural land in the country have been found to be unusable, either contaminated with mines and unexploded ordnance, or inaccessible due to hostilities.
But despite this, Ukraine continues to fulfill its obligations under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, said Ukraine’s permanent representative to the UN. According to Sergei Kyslytsya, Ukraine could export 6 million tons of grain per month – but only exports 3.4 million tons, because Russia deliberately delays the inspection of ships carrying agricultural products passing through the humanitarian corridor.
“The Black Sea Grain Initiative is expected to resume on March 18, either for 120 days, as previously envisaged, or indefinitely,” Sergei Kislitsa told a meeting of the UN Security Council. – And its scope should be expanded. Other Ukrainian ports in the Mykolaiv region should be included. Today, more than 30 EU countries have joined the initiative to export grain from Ukraine.
