Russia appears to be trying to use Turkey to bypass Western barriers to its grain exports after the collapse of the Black Sea grain deal, Sky News reports.
A year-long agreement on the safe passage of Ukrainian grain through Black Sea ports ended last night after Russia refused to renew it.
Today, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held a conversation with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, to discuss ways to export Russian grain via routes “not subject to sabotage by Kyiv and the West.”
No direct sanctions were imposed on Russian grain, but sanctions imposed on banks, companies and individuals made it difficult for exporters to transport products and arrange payments.
Russia and Ukraine are the world’s two largest exporters of grain, which is considered a key factor in food poverty in some developing countries and global food prices.
On Tuesday, the Kremlin warned that attempts to send grain from Ukrainian Black Sea ports without security guarantees from Russia would be fraught with risk, as Kyiv has used these waters for military operations, Reuters reported.
Russia wants to give grain to African countries for free
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Monday accused Russia of turning grain into weapons, harming millions of vulnerable people around the world, but Peskov rejected the accusation.
He stated that Russia fulfilled its obligations and extended the agreement several times, although the obligations taken in return by Moscow were not fulfilled.
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Peskov noted that the poorest countries in Africa received the least benefits from the agreement, but Russia is ready to continue providing them with grain for free.
According to him, Moscow maintains contacts with its African partners and that this issue will be discussed at the Russian-African summit in St. Petersburg next week.
The deal expired on Monday evening
The deal, which has guaranteed safe exports of Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea for the past year, expired at midnight in Istanbul on Monday (21:00 GMT), a deadline set during the last two-month extension in May.
Russia refused to extend this agreement signed on July 22, 2022 with Ukraine under the auspices of the UN and Turkey, condemning the obstacles to trade in Russian agricultural products.
After the evening conversation between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi and UN Secretary General António Guterres on Monday, they agreed to work on continuing grain supplies from the Black Sea.
“We agreed with Mr. Guterres to work together and with the relevant countries to restore food security and food supplies through the Black Sea,” Zelenskyy said on Telegram.
Mykola Gorbachev said he was “sure that Ukraine could export grain without Russia” if it was given “international support” after Russia pulled out of the Black Sea Grain Agreement.
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Source: Hot News
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