A view showing grain silos from the Black Sea port of Odesa, ahead of grain shipments as the Ukrainian government awaits signals from the UN and Turkey to start grain shipments, amid Russia’s invasion Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine on July 29, 2022.
Nacho Doce | Reuters
The European Union on Sunday called on Russia to reverse its decision to withdraw from a UN-brokered grain deal, a move that undermines efforts to defuse the global food crisis, and Ukraine said. Moscow planned it in advance.
Moscow suspended its participation in the Black Sea deal on Saturday, effectively cutting shipments from Ukraine, one of the world’s top grain exporters, in response to what it called a Ukraine’s major drone strike earlier in the day targeted its fleet near the port of Sevastopol in Russia-annexed Crimea.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Twitter: “Russia’s decision to suspend participation in the Black Sea deal risks putting at risk the main export route of much-needed cereals and fertilizers. to solve the global food crisis caused by the war against Ukraine”.
“The EU calls on Russia (to reverse) its decision.”
On Saturday, US President Joe Biden called the move “totally outrageous”, saying it would increase hunger, while Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused Moscow of weaponizing food. On Sunday, Russia’s ambassador to Washington hit back, calling the US response “outrageous” and making false assertions about Moscow’s move.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Ukraine hit the Black Sea Fleet near Sevastopol with 16 drones early on Saturday and that British naval “experts” helped coordinate what it called a terrorist attack.
Russia said it repelled the attack but that the ships targeted were involved in securing the grain corridor out of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Moscow used the explosions 220 kilometers (137 miles) from the grain corridor as a “false pretext” for a long-intentioned move.
“Russia planned this in advance,” Kuleba said on Twitter. “Russia decided to continue its hunger games a long time ago and is now trying to justify it,” he said.
Presidential chief of staff Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday accused Russia of orchestrating attacks on its own facilities.
Kyiv often accuses Russia of using its Black Sea Fleet to fire cruise missiles at Ukrainian civilian targets, an allegation supported by some military analysts, who say it makes the fleet a legitimate military goals.
Moscow also accused British naval personnel of blowing up the Nord Stream gas pipeline last month, an allegation London says is untrue and designed to distract from Russian military failures. in Ukraine.
Russia’s exit from the grain deal marks a new development in an eight-month war that began with Russia’s invasion in February and has recently been dominated by Ukraine’s counter-offensive and attacks. To be fair, Russian drones and missiles destroyed more than 30% of Ukraine’s electricity generation capacity and hit populated areas.
Each side accused the other of preparing to detonate a radioactive bomb.
Zelenskyy called for a strong response from the United Nations and the Group of 20 major economies (G-20) to what he called Russia’s pointless move to the grain deal.
“This is a completely transparent Russian attempt to return to the threat of large-scale famine to Africa, to Asia,” Zelenskyy said in a video speech on Saturday, co. time added that Russia should be excluded from the G-20.
‘Hungry Game’
The grain deal restarted shipments from Ukraine, allowing sale on the world market, targeting pre-war levels of 5 million tonnes of exports from Ukraine per month.
More than 9 million tons of corn, wheat, sunflower products, barley, rapeseed and soybeans were exported under the July 22 agreement.
But before it expires on November 19, Russia has repeatedly said there are serious problems with it. Ukraine complains that Moscow has intercepted nearly 200 ships taking in grain.
When the deal was signed, the UN’s World Food Program said some 47 million people were suffering from “acute hunger” as the war brought Ukraine’s shipments to a halt, causing food shortages. around the world and caused prices to skyrocket.
The agreement guarantees safe entry to Odesa and two other Ukrainian ports in what one official called a “de facto ceasefire” for covered ships and facilities.
Russia told United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday in a letter, seen by Reuters, that it was suspending the deal “indefinitely” because it could not “ensure the safety of civilian vessels” sailing. under the agreement.
Moscow has asked the United Nations Security Council to meet on Monday to discuss the Sevastopol attack, UN Deputy Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy wrote on Twitter.
More than 10 ships entering and leaving the country were waiting to enter the humanitarian corridor on Saturday, and there was no agreement on moving ships into the country, said Amir Abdulla, the UN coordinator for the agreement. Japan, Amir Abdulla, the United Nations coordinator for the agreement, said Saturday.
