The Black Sea grain initiative should be continued – USA
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The United States is calling on Russia to stop using food as a weapon and to extend the Black Sea Grain Agreement, which allows the export of Ukrainian grain through ports blocked by the Russian Federation. US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink wrote on Twitter: “Ukraine is ready to continue exporting food. Russia must stop using food as a weapon and playing with the lives of those who depend on these supplies, and the Black Sea Grain Initiative must be continued, expanded and fully implemented. for the benefit of people all over the world”. The US Embassy in Kyiv reiterates the call of the State Department that there is an urgent need to continue and expand the Black Sea Grain Initiative, providing ships with access to Ukrainian ports so that more food can reach world markets. It also tells the story of Ukrainian farmer Volodymyr, who, like thousands of Ukrainian farmers, works to ensure that Ukrainian agriculture feeds the world, even when their country faces war and uncertainty. Meanwhile, as Reuters writes, the last vessel under the agreement left the Odesa port on Sunday morning before it expires on July 17. Russia did not agree to register new ships from June 27. A United Nations spokesman said Friday that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is awaiting a response from Russian President Vladimir Putin on a proposal to extend the deal. In a phone call on Saturday, Putin told South African President Cyril Ramaphosa that commitments to remove obstacles to Russian food and fertilizer exports have not yet been fulfilled, the Kremlin said. Russia has repeatedly threatened to withdraw from the agreement brokered by the UN and Turkey in July 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In the year since its signing, the Black Sea Initiative, according to the UN, has enabled the export of more than 32 million tons of food products from Ukrainian ports to 45 countries around the world, and more than 725,000 tons of wheat provided through the World Food Program have helped to cope with hunger in the poorest countries. The organization reports that 51% of the transported food within the initiative concluded with the mediation of the UN and Turkey was corn, 27% – wheat, 6% – sunflower, 5% – sunflower oil. The agreement helped reduce global food prices by 11.6% after a sharp rise in prices since the start of Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine. The article uses Reuters materials
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