WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday that the United States (US) would continue to do “whatever is essential” to ensure Russia can freely export food if there was a renewal of the agreement allowing the safe Black Sea export of Ukrainian grain.
US will Keep Russian Food Exports Flowing if Black Sea Export Deal Revived, Antony Blinken
Moscow last month quit the July 2022 agreement brokered by Ankara and the UN aimed at easing a international food crisis due to war in Ukraine. Russia and Ukraine are both leading grain exporters across the world.
” We will continue to do whatever is essential in order to make sure that everyone can export their food products safely to include Russia,” the US top diplomat told reporters at the UN.
Following presiding a UNSC meeting on food insecurity caused by crisis and conflict, he said, “We want everyone to take benefit from the lower prices in the markets,”.
The European Union (EU) also warned developing nations that Moscow is offering cheap grain “to create new dependencies by aggravating economic vulnerabilities and international food insecurity,” Reuters reported on Wednesday.
According to Reuters, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell wrote a letter to developing and Group of 20 nations on Monday to ask them to speak “with a clear and unified voice” to push Russia to return to an agreement that permitted the safe Black Sea export of Ukraine grain and to prevent targeting Ukrainian agricultural infrastructure.
Earlier, Zelenskiy claimed that Russia’s assaults on port infrastructure demonstrated Russians were intent on creating international catastrophe,” with a crisis in food markets, supplies and prices.
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In his video address, he said, “For Russians, this is not just a war against our freedom and against our nation,”. He added Russia is waging a battle for international catastrophe. President Zelenskiy said in Russians madness, they also need international food markets to downfall, Moscow needs a price crisis, they need disturbances in supplies.”
Over the matter, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also made a phone call to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, urging him not to further escalate tensions in the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The call comes after Moscow struck facilities vital for grain shipments from Ukraine, which has disrupted the grain trade in the region.
