Spell the Coordination of the Humanitarian issues of the UN (OCHA), Jens Laerke, answered a written request from an AA correspondent on alternative Black Sea grain initiative for grain export from Ukraine.
Laerke noted that at present, the main attention is paid to the revival of the Black Sea grain initiative:
“We believe that the return to the Black Sea initiative will contribute to the export of millions of tons of grain and fertilizers both from the Russian Federation and from Ukraine, unload the markets and increase the safety of navigation in the Black Sea”.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today said at a press conference organized by Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi: “We believe that the initiative should be continued by eliminating the shortcomings. I sincerely shared our views on this issue with my dear friend during our way a two -way meeting. In this context, we have prepared a package of new proposals, including consultations with the UN and significant progress. I believe that in the framework of this new process, we can achieve results. I believe that in a short time we will reach a solution that will justify the expectations. ”
Putin, in turn, said: “We want to revive the grain corridor, we will do it. But on one condition. We want our agricultural products to reach the sea unhindered.”
The UN Secretary General Antoniu Guterres, in his statement of August 31, emphasized that they also took into account the complaints and demands of Russia in relation to this initiative: “I sent a letter to the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and submitted specific proposals for the renewal of the Black Sea Grain initiative” .
“The new agreement should be stable. We do not need the initiative that drift from the crisis to the crisis and is constantly suspended. We support the initiative that works and benefits,” the Secretary General said.
According to Gaterrish, the proposals are aimed at ensuring more efficient and affordable access of Russian food and fertilizers to world markets.
– Black Sea Grain initiative
In order to reduce the influence of the war between Ukraine and Russia on world food prices, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine on July 22, 2022 in Istanbul signed an agreement on the Black Sea Grain initiative.
On July 17, the Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov stated about the expired agreement: “The agreement on the grain corridor actually stopped, it stopped. Russia will immediately return to the grain agreement as soon as the appropriate conditions are met. The part of the agreement that concernses Russia, was not fulfilled. “