2023-07-17 06:41:35
The Black Sea grain deal is up in the air, due to expire on Monday if Russia pulls out and does not agree to extend it.
The agreement allowed the safe export of grain from the Ukraine via Black Sea last year and was achieved through the mediation of United States and her Turkey with the main purpose of combating the global food crisis, which worsened after Russia’s invasion of the neighboring country.
The last ship left Ukraine under the deal on Sunday. Russia’s February 2022 invasion and blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports sent global grain prices soaring. Ukraine and Russia are among the world’s leading grain exporters.
The last ship under the “grain deal” left the port of #OdessaReuters writes.
The “grain deal” expires on July 17. pic.twitter.com/8QTiHlQuUh
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) July 16, 2023
Almost 33 million metric tons of corn, wheat and other grains have been exported from Ukraine under the agreement.
Request to improve its exports
Russia has threatened to leave the deal because, it claims, its demands for protection of its own grain and fertilizer exports have not been met. Russia has also protested that not enough grain has reached poor countries.
The United Nationshave argued that the agreement has benefited these states by helping to reduce food prices by more than 20% worldwide.
Talks between Russia and Turkey for a new plan
The foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday that Russia has already started talking with Turkey about a plan to ensure that Russian wheat – possibly processed by Turkey – continues to reach countries that need it, regardless of the fate of the deal on Black Sea.
The UN Security Council is to discuss the issue at a meeting on Monday chaired by the British foreign secretary James Cleverly. Britain is its president 15-member board for July. Several other European foreign ministers are also expected to attend the meeting.
The United Nations has announced that in its context World Food Programme, 80% of total wheat supplies for 2023 came from Ukraine – up from 50% in 2021 and 2022.
The World Food Program has sent approximately 725,000 metric tons of Ukrainian wheat to Afghanistanthe Sudanthe Djiboutithe Ethiopiathe Kenyathe Somalia and Yemen to fight hunger.
The world body also announced that thanks to the agreement, grain has so far reached 45 countries on three continents – 46% in Asia, 40% in Western Europe, 12% in Africa and 1% in Eastern Europe.
Three extension agreements
Russia has agreed three times in the past year to extend the Black Sea deal, but also briefly suspended its participation in late October in response to a drone attack on its fleet in Crimea.
To persuade Russia to agree to the Black Sea deal, a three-year agreement was also reached in July 2022 under which UN officials agreed to help Russia promote its food and fertilizer exports to foreign markets.
While Russian food and fertilizer exports are not subject to Western sanctions imposed after the Russian invasion, Moscow has said restrictions on payments, supply chains and insurance have hampered its shipments.
The main Russian demand
The main Russian demand was its reunification Russian Agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank) with the international payment system SWIFT. The bank was cut off from SWIFT as part of sanctions imposed on Moscow by the European Union in June 2022 due to the invasion of Ukraine.
Putin tells South African leader main goal of grain deal still not implemented. The leaders of Russia and South Africa held a telephone conversation at the initiative of the South African side: pic.twitter.com/XPQ2ojYOD5
— TASS (@tassagency_en) July 15, 2023
Guterres intervention
The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres made last Tuesday the last attempt to convince the Russian president Vladimir Putin to extend the Black Sea grain deal for several months in return for the EU to link its subsidiary Rosselkhozbank with SWIFT for grain and fertilizer transactions, sources said.
Guterres is still waiting for a response from Putin, according to a UN spokesman.
The UN on Sunday awaited a response from Russia on renewing a deal that allows Ukraine to export its grain amid a wartime blockade, a necessity in helping keep global food prices stable. The latest deadline to renew it is Monday.
— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 16, 2023
As an alternative to the lack of access to SWIFT, UN officials have already ensured that the American bank JPMorgan will begin processing certain payments for Russian grain exports, receiving relevant assurances from the US government.
The United Nations is also working with African Export-Import Bank to create a platform to help process transactions for Russian grain and fertilizer exports to Africa, a UN trade official told Reuters last month.
With information from Reuters
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