The plan by Moscow, Ankara and the United Nations, allegedly rejected by Kiev, aims to clear the sea around Odessa and guarantee the safe passage of ships to the Black Sea under the auspices of the UN
Russia and Turkey, according to the Russian press, have reached a preliminary agreement thanks to UN mediation to unblock the export of Ukrainian grain via a maritime corridor in the Black Sea from the port of Odessa. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has offered to help clear the Ukrainian coast of Odessa and escort Ukrainian ships carrying the grain, a proposal supported by Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, the Bloomberg agency, citing sources from the negotiations, assures Ukraine that Ukraine rejects the contents of the preliminary agreement in its current terms.
According to the agency, the plan by Moscow, Ankara and the United Nations aims to clear the sea around Odessa and guarantee the safe passage of ships to the Black Sea under the auspices of the UN. But Moscow demands the ability to inspect merchant ships to prevent arms trafficking. This is one of the conditions that Kiev, whose representatives did not participate in the negotiations yesterday, flatly rejects.
Ukraine also fears that neutralizing Odessa’s coastal defenses to allow ships to load grain would leave the port unprotected, at the mercy of a possible Russian attack. In this regard, Ankara is confident that the United Nations’ intervention can help address the security concerns of the Ukrainian authorities.
The parties will meet in Ankara tomorrow, Wednesday, in the presence of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to finalize the agreement. Yesterday, however, it was not yet known whether Ukraine will send its delegation. In the opinion of Taras Kachka, Deputy Economy Minister and Trade Representative of Ukraine, “Russia is trying to endorse Ukraine’s responsibility for the supply disruption.” In his words, “the fact is that the food crisis has been artificially created by Russia and Russia alone.”
For his part, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba has stated via Twitter that Russia cannot be trusted. According to his position, Putin says that he will not use the commercial routes to attack Odessa (…), but he also assured that he did not intend to invade our country. We cannot trust Putin, his words are worthless.”
Turkey’s idea is to establish a center in Istanbul for cargo control and coordination once the sea in front of the port of Odessa is cleared and the ships are guaranteed to depart. But according to estimates by the Turkish presidency, once the agreement is signed, it will take “three to five weeks to start the operation”.
Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine is preventing Ukrainian grain from reaching world markets, which not only drives up prices but threatens to cause severe famine in third world countries. At present, Ukrainian grain is exported to the European Union by rail.
Since the start of the war on February 24, about 22.5 million tons of grain have been blocked in Ukrainian ports. Ukraine is the world’s fourth largest exporter of wheat and maize with nearly 10 percent of the market.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said yesterday that the amount of grain for exports blocked by the war could triple to 75 million tons in the fall. As he told the media, “Right now, 20-25 million tons of grains are blocked, and this fall, that number could rise to 70-75 million tons.” “We need maritime corridors and we are talking about it with Turkey, the United Kingdom and the UN (…) also with Poland and the Baltic countries to export the grain in smaller quantities by rail,” he said.
In an interview with the Russian channel “Rossiya 24” broadcast this weekend, Putin said that “there are no problems with the export of grain from Ukraine” and also called for the importance of Kiev for the food security of the planet ” not to exaggerate”. Shortly before that, during a meeting in Sochi with Senegal’s President Macky Sall, the Kremlin chief insisted that global food problems began “long before” the invasion of Ukraine.
According to him, “the problems came to light as early as February 2020 during the fight against the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.” Putin also blames the food shortage on the sanctions the West has imposed on Russia. To normalize grain exports, Putin said it would be necessary to lift sanctions against Russia and stop arms supplies to Ukraine. In this regard, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, believes that the Russian president is “using hunger as a weapon to blackmail”.
Source: La Verdad
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