The
UN secretary general, António Guterres, expressed in a
statement that he “deeply regrets” the Russian Federation’s decision to
withdraw from the
Black Sea grain deal, saying that hundreds of millions of
people facing the global cost-of-living crisis “will pay the price”.
اضافة اعلان
The statement added that the Black Sea Initiative, together
with the Memorandum of Understanding on facilitating exports of Russian food
products and fertilizers, have been essential for
global food security. The
grain deal has ensured the safe passage of over 32m metric tons of food
commodities from Ukrainian ports.
These agreements have helped to
reduce food prices by over
23 percent since March last year.
A new proposal
Guterres said he sent a letter to Putin with a new proposal
to keep the Black Sea Initiative “alive”.
Under the agreement, a coalition of Turkish,
Ukrainian and UN staff monitored the loading of grain into vessels in Ukrainian ports before
navigating a preplanned route through the Black Sea, which is heavily mined by
Ukrainian and Russian forces.
Putin said last week that he wanted an end to sanctions on
the Russian Agricultural Bank. Other demands include the resumption of supplies
of agricultural machinery and parts, lifting restrictions on insurance and
reinsurance, the resumption of the Togliatti-Odesa ammonia pipeline, and the
unblocking of assets and the accounts of Russian companies involved in food and
fertilizer exports.
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