[News] Russia accuses the West of obstructing grain exports across the Black Sea

[bkacjya]

The Russian Foreign Ministry accused the West of obstructing exports of grain and fertilizers across the Black Sea as a result of unilateral Western sanctions, which were imposed after the outbreak of the Russian war on Ukraine. Russia said that 3% of Ukraine's grain agreement exports are given to the poorest countries only.

The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that a large group of ships are being artificially assembled in Istanbul to put pressure on the Russian experts working in the Control Center for Grain Shipments from Ukraine with the aim of weakening control and speeding up the procedures for inspecting goods.

The statement of the Russian Foreign Ministry indicated that the violations of the sea lane cannot be ignored, especially in light of the ongoing investigation into the ways of transporting explosives that targeted the Crimean Bridge on the eighth of this month.

On July 22, Russia and Ukraine signed in Istanbul an initiative backed by the United Nations to solve the Ukrainian grain crisis stuck in ports as a result of the war that has been going on since February 24. As a result of this agreement, millions of tons of corn, wheat, sunflower products, barley, rapeseed and soybeans were exported from Ukraine to various world markets.

Russian complaint
However, President Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials have repeatedly complained in the recent period about real problems facing the Istanbul Agreement, and Moscow has warned of the possibility of withdrawing from it if its demands are not met.

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Moscow said on Friday that the poorest countries get only 3 percent of Ukraine's food exports, which take place as part of the deal brokered by the United Nations to transport grain from Ukrainian ports, and that half of the shipments go to Western countries.

On Thursday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that her country had not yet taken a decision on whether to extend the Ukraine grain agreement, which expires on November 19.

The spokeswoman added in press statements that the West has not taken sufficient steps to ease sanctions on the Russian logistics, payments and insurance sectors to facilitate exports of grain and fertilizers.

In addition to the export of Ukrainian grain, the Istanbul agreement provides for facilitating Russian exports, which have been affected by the effects of the harsh Western sanctions on the Russian economy.

American warning
In response to the Russian comments, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on Thursday that Russia would face "extreme anger" if it reneged on the Ukraine grain export agreement.

Minister Blinken added that the intense anger towards Moscow will come from countries all over the world that benefit from Ukrainian grain, especially the developing countries in the southern hemisphere.

Contrary to Russian statements, the US Secretary of State said that two-thirds of Ukraine's grain shipments went to countries that need it most.

Apart from the percentage provided by Russia, the US Secretary of State said that two-thirds of Ukraine's grain shipments went to countries that need it most.

The UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths, visited Russia earlier this month for discussions with Russian officials to extend the Istanbul agreement, and the UN official said he was "relatively optimistic" about the extension.

The United Nations is seeking to extend the agreement for up to a year and facilitate joint inspections of ships conducted in Istanbul by officials from the United Nations, Turkey, Russia and Ukraine.

The United Nations recently warned that there was a backlog of inspections of more than 150 vessels, while Ukraine accused Russia on Monday of deliberately delaying more than 165 grain-carrying vessels by extending the audits at the Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul.

https://www.aljazeera.net/news/2022/10/28/روسيا-الغرب-يعرقل-صادرتنا-من-الحبوب