Russia speculates on the "grain agreement", increasing its own exports - Kislytsia
It is disgusting that Russia is still pretending that it is the loser in this deal. I will not even remind the Security Council about the immorality of such complaints from the aggressor state, which was and remains the only threat to food supplies on the Black Sea. Therefore, we consider these speculations to be an attempt to whitewash the targetRussia's direct actions aimed at using food supplies as a weapon, and we call on the international community to give a decisive response," Kislytsia said on Monday, May 15, at a meeting of the UN Security Council, which considered the humanitarian consequences of the Russian war.
Postpred noted that Russia prevents the transportation of Ukrainian grain by sea in every possible way. He also added that since May 1, less than three inspections per day have been carried out, while at the beginning of the grain corridor's operation in August 2022, an average of 6.6 inspections were carried out.
In April, we were able to export less than 3 million tons of products through the grain corridor, which is only half of our agricultural export potential," Kyslytsia said.
He reminded the members of the UN Security Council that the date of May 18, to which the grain agreement was extended, was determined only because of Russia's position.
The Black Sea grain initiative does not end this week. But this week is the deadline for Russian blackmail," he explained.
Last week, a meeting was held in Istanbul at the level of the deputy defense ministers of Turkey, Russia and Ukraine, as well as representatives of the UN, where the issue of continuing the Black Sea Grain Initiative was discussed.
Russia has threatened to withdraw from the grain initiative on May 18 — halfway through the deal's standard four-month term — if its demands are not met. In April and from the beginning of May, its representatives in the SCC repeatedly created obstacles for the registration of vessels in the grain initiative and refused to work according to the plans of Ukrainian ports. This reduced the inclusion of new vessels in the grain corridor.
On March 17, it was agreed to extend the initiative for the safe transportation of agricultural products across the Black Sea under the auspices of the UN for another 120 days - until mid-July 2023. At the same time, the Russian side insists that the agreement was extended for only 60 days.
At the end of July, representatives of Ukraine, Turkey and the UN signed in Istanbul the Initiative on the safe transportation of grain and food products from Ukrainian ports, which is designed to partially unblock the Ukrainian sea ports of Odesa, Chornomorsk and "Pivdenny" for the export of grain and fertilizers. The UN and Turkey signed a similar agreement with Russia. The first loaded vessel under the Initiative left Odesa port on August 1.
The "Grain Initiative" made it possible to unblock the ports of Greater Odessa, which before the war were 80% gateways for agricultural exports, to support Ukrainian farmers, to increase the inflow of foreign exchange earnings to Ukraine, to stabilize world food prices, and to prevent a significant deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the states that are on the border famine, in particular Ethiopia, Somalia, Afghanistan.
According to the UN, as of May 15, 30.2 million tons of agricultural products were sent to African, Asian and European countries through the grain corridor from Ukrainian ports, including 15.2 million tons of corn, 8.3 million tons of wheat, sunflower oil 1.5 million tons.