Russia ratchets up tensions with the West as it calls for grain deal to be reopened
Grain deliveries from Ukraine in jeopardy after Russian President Vladimir Putin called for the UN-brokered deal for supplies to be shipped via the Black Sea to be reopened.
The Kremlin has accused Ukraine and the West of deceiving Russia – delivering grain, fertiliser and other foodstuffs to the European Union (EU) and Turkey rather than developing countries.
Ukraine’s ports have been blockaded by Russia since the country invaded in February.
The agreement, which was facilitated by the United Nations and Turkey in July, created a protected export corridor via the Black Sea for Ukrainian grain after the country lost access to its main export route following Russia’s invasion.
The deal aimed to ease global food prices – maintaining supplies of grain and oilseeds.
It been the only diplomatic breakthrough between Moscow and Kyiv in more than six months of war.
Ukraine has argued its are were being strictly observed and there were no grounds to renegotiate it.
However, Putin has claimed that Ukraine is not honouring its terms, and threatened to change to deal to prevent food shortages in developing economies, which he described as “unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.”
He told a Russian economic forum: “”I met with the leaders of the African Union, with the leaders of African countries, and promised them that we would do everything to ensure their interests and facilitate the export of Ukrainian grain,”
He argued that if shipments to Turkey as an intermediary country were excluded only two out of 87 shipments had fallen under the UN World Food Programme’s remit, representing just 60,000 tonnes or three per cent of the total 2 million tonnes exported so far.
Russia has been ratcheting up tensions with the West for weeks, squeezing gas supplies into Europe with the closure of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.
Ukraine has been facing a backlog of grain export deals since Russia’s invasion.
There were roughly 70 ships stranded in Ukraine when Russia invaded in February, some of which had already been loaded with grain, with contracts already signed. Some of those contracted cargoes have been the first to move.
Putin spoke about possibly restricting grain and food exports to the EU and promised to discuss the matter with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who helped broker the original deal.
A Ukrainian presidential adviser told news agency Reuters that Russia had no grounds to review the landmark pact and that the terms of the wartime agreement were being strictly observed.
The adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, said: “I believe that such unexpected and groundless statements rather indicate an attempt to find new aggressive talking points to influence global public opinion and, above all, put pressure on the United Nations.”
Ukraine hopes to export 60m tonnes of grain in eight to nine months, presidential economic adviser Oleh Ustenko said in July.
It has warned those exports could take up to 24 months if ports do not function properly amid Russian restriction.
According to the United Nations, 88 ships have sailed or are due to sail from Ukraine under the deal so far.
Of those ships, two have been World Food Programme ships – one of which went to Djibouti, the other to Yemen.
Uncertainty around Ukrainian exports is likely to drive up prices and raise fears of shortages.
The country provides around 10 percent of the global share of wheat exports, and almost half of the world’s sunflower oil.