The US Urges Russia to Restore Black Sea Grain Export Deal
US Secretary of State Calls Russia’s Decision “Irrational”
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on Monday that Russia’s decision to suspend its involvement in a Black Sea grain export deal was “irrational” and called for the agreement to be restored as soon as possible.
He told reporters that Washington was monitoring the situation after the attack, which destroyed a land bridge connecting Crimea with southern Russia, and added that it was Ukraine who decided how to wage the war.
Moscow’s Decision Harms People Around the World
In turn, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said: “Russia’s decision to renew an effective blockade of Ukrainian ports and prevent this grain from reaching the markets will harm people around the world, and Russia will bear full and sole responsibility for the consequences of this act of military aggression.”
“Today we are already seeing an increase in world prices for wheat, corn and soybeans solely as a result of the suspension of Russian participation, and we call on the Russian government to immediately reverse its decision,” he added.
Moscow Suspends the Agreement
The United States said it would continue to work with other countries to secure the transfer of grain from Ukraine after Russia withdrew from a UN-brokered deal allowing Ukraine to export grain across the Black Sea.
Moscow announced on Monday that an agreement to export Ukrainian grain had expired hours after Kyiv’s nightly attack on the Crimean Bridge connecting Russia with a peninsula it annexed in 2014.
The Black Sea Grain Initiative, signed by Russia and Ukraine in July 2022 under the auspices of Turkey and the UN, aims to reduce the risk of world hunger by ensuring the export of Ukrainian agricultural products despite the war.
Russian Threat
Moscow has been threatening for weeks not to renew the agreement, complaining about obstacles to the export of its agricultural products and fertilizers, stressing that the stated goal of the agreement, namely the supply of grain to poor countries, has not been achieved.
Despite the Kremlin’s announcement, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday expressed confidence in his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin’s desire to keep the deal.
This agreement made it possible to export more than 32 billion tons of grain. Late Sunday evening, data from the Maritime Traffic website showed that the last cargo ship approved by the parties to the agreement was heading across the Black Sea from the Ukrainian port city of Odessa to Istanbul.
According to the Coordinating Center for Agreements, in addition to some developing countries, the main beneficiaries of grain supplies are Turkey and China.
The agreement allowed the World Food Program to help countries facing severe food shortages such as Afghanistan, Sudan, and Yemen.
While UN Secretary General António Guterres made efforts to salvage the agreement and extend its duration. He expressed support for removing barriers to Russian fertilizer exports and sent a letter to Putin last week about it.
