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Russia announced this Wednesday, November 2, to resume its participation in the agreement on Ukrainian grain exports after receiving ” written guarantees from Ukraine on the demilitarization of the corridor used for their transport.
« Russia considers that the guarantees received so far seem sufficient and resumes implementation of the agreement “, said the Russian Ministry of Defense on Telegram. Moscow had suspended his participation last Saturday, after a drone attack on its fleet based in Sevastopol Bay, in annexed Crimea.
The Russian Ministry of Defense specified that it had obtained written assurances from the Ukrainian authorities that neither the ports covered by the agreement, nor the secure maritime corridors used by ships transporting Ukrainian cereals, would be used for military purposes.
Resumption of Ukrainian grain exports
A series of phone calls in recent days between Russian and Turkish officials, notably on Tuesday between Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose country is the guarantor of this crucial agreement for the world’s food supply, and President Vladimir Putin, and the intercession of the he UN, another guarantor of the agreement, seems to have convinced Moscow to reconsider its position.
For his part, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the resumption of Ukrainian grain exports on Wednesday at midday via the humanitarian corridor in the Black Sea. ” Following my interview with [le président russe Vladimir] Poutine yesterday, grain shipments will continue from noon today said Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
According to the Turkish president, who was speaking before his party’s parliamentary group, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu called his Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar to inform him that grain shipments were resuming ” like before » from 9 a.m. GMT. Recep Tayyip Erdogan has confirmed that he will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during the day, this Wednesday.
The UN welcomes this return
On Twitter, the UN Coordinator for the Black Sea Grains Initiative – the official name of Ukraine’s agricultural export deal – Amir Abdulla, “ welcomed the return of Russia to the implementation [de l’accord] to facilitate grain and fertilizer exports ».
I welcome the return of the Russian Federation to the implementation of the #BlackSeaGrainInitiative to facilitate exports of food and fertilizer from #Ukraine. Grateful for the Turkish facilitation. Looking forward to working again with all parties in the Initiative.
— Amir M. Abdulla (@AmirMAbdulla) November 2, 2022
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday hailed “ warmly » This return of Russia in the agreement allowing the export of Ukrainian cereals. The Secretary General ” continues its efforts with all actors for the renewal and full implementation of the (Black Sea) Initiative and is also committed to removing obstacles to Russian food and fertilizer exports “said his spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, in a press release.
Russian President Vladimir Putinhas already threatened to withdraw again from the agreement on Ukrainian grain exports via the Black Sea in the event of ” breach of warranties that Moscow says it received from kyiv. This is what he said in a short speech broadcast live on Russian television.
The grain deal concluded in July in Istanbul between kyiv and Moscow under the aegis of the UN and Turkey aims in particular to alleviate the world food crisis aggravated by the Ukrainian conflict.
(With agencies)
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