The Secretary General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres said today that he was concerned that Russia would next month terminate an agreement allowing the safe export of grain and fertilizer in wartime from three of its Ukrainian ports Black Sea.
“I am concerned and we are working hard to ensure that it will be possible to maintain the Black Sea initiative and at the same time that we will be able to continue our work to facilitate Russian exports,” Guterres told reporters.
Moscow is threatening to pull out of the deal known as the Black Sea Grain Initiative – brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in July last year – unless barriers to its own grain and fertilizer shipments are removed.
To convince Russia to agree to the agreement on the cereals of the Black Sea, a three-year memorandum of understanding was signed at the same time, under which officials of UN they agreed to help Russia with its own food and fertilizer exports.
While Russian food and fertilizer exports are not subject to Western sanctions imposed after the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Moscow says restrictions on payments, the supply chain and insurance have hampered shipments.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin said on Saturday, as relayed by the Athens News Agency, that Russia cannot be satisfied with the way this memorandum is being implemented,” TASS news agency reported, citing his statements after the meeting he had with the Friday in Geneva with UN trade official Rebecca Greenspan.
Among Russia’s demands are the resumption of ammonia exports via a pipeline to the Ukrainian port of Pyvtnenyi and the reconnection of the Russian Agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank) to the SWIFT international payment system.
The United Nations has helped boost Russian food and fertilizer exports by facilitating a steady flow of ships to its ports and reducing freight and insurance fees, a UN spokesman said on Friday.
Source: News Beast
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