The grain agreement ends within days… An international message to Putin

A United Nations spokesman confirmed today, Wednesday, that Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the international organization, sent a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, yesterday, Tuesday, proposing a way forward in increasing the facilities granted to Russian food and fertilizer exports, and ensuring the continuation of the Ukrainian grain export agreement via Ukraine. Black Sea ports.

“remove obstacles”

“The aim is to remove obstacles affecting financial transactions that take place through the Russian Agricultural Bank, and this is a major concern expressed by the Russian Federation, and at the same time allow the continuous flow of Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea,” spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters on Wednesday.

Efforts continue

For his part, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed, on Wednesday, that negotiations aimed at extending the agreement on the export of Ukrainian grain, which expires on July 17, are “continuing.”

“We are continuing our efforts to extend the agreement on grain exports” across the Black Sea, Erdogan said on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Vilnius.

Putin’s suggestions

He also added that Ukrainian President Volodymyr “Zelinsky wants this and (Russian President) Mr. (Vladimir) Putin has suggestions. We are working on a solution that takes these suggestions into account.”

He reiterated that Türkiye was “ready to play the role of mediator.”

Hurdles

Russia said last week that it saw “no reason” to extend the agreement, complaining of obstacles to exporting its agricultural products.

During the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, a series of Russian drone strikes targeted a grain terminal in the Odessa region in southern Ukraine, which includes three major grain export ports.

A persistent Russian threat

Moscow has repeatedly threatened within a year to withdraw from the agreement, denouncing Western sanctions that “prevent Russian agricultural exports.”

The initiative to export grain across the Black Sea was signed in July 2022 in Istanbul within the framework of an agreement between Russia and Ukraine sponsored by Turkey and the United Nations, which made it possible to export about 33,000 tons of grain from Ukraine despite the war.