Moscow maintains the vagueness on the renewal of the cereal agreement
Uncertainty remains this Monday on the future of the grain agreement in the Black Sea deemed crucial for world food, a few hours from its expiry at midnight in Istanbul, 11 p.m. in Paris.
Silence and discretion surrounded all weekend the last-ditch maneuvers led by Turkey and the United Nations (UN) to convince Moscow to extend the agreement signed in July 2022 on the Bosphorus. It has over the past year ensured the safe passage of cargo ships to and from Ukrainian ports despite the war, transporting a total of almost 33 million tonnes of grain destined for world markets.
But Russia has not given its approval for its renewal, and the Black Sea Grain Initiative is now de facto at a standstill. “Since June 27, no request for passage has been approved by all parties”, according to a statement from the Joint Coordination Center (JCC) which is overseeing the deal in Istanbul. The last cargo validated by the inspectors of the four signatories, the Turkish ship TQ Samsungleft the Ukrainian port of Odessa on Sunday, and is heading for Istanbul, according to the site marine traffic.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan shows his confidence: he assured Friday that his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, was ” All right “ with him on the extension of the agreement. But the Kremlin spokesman immediately replied that no such statement had been made.
Mr Putin has repeatedly denounced the obstacles to the export of Russian food products and fertilizers, which was to accompany that of Ukrainian products. He also ruled on Saturday that “the main objective of the agreement, the delivery of cereals to countries in need, particularly on the African continent, is not achieved”.
According to official JCC data, China and Turkey are the top recipients of shipments, along with developed economies. But thanks to the agreement, the World Food Program (WFP) was able to relieve a dozen countries in critical situation such as Afghanistan, Sudan or Yemen.
Hence the involvement of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who continued many discussions, according to his spokesman. In particular, he met at the end of the week with officials from the European Union, whose sanctions are hampering the activities of the main Russian agricultural bank. Nothing has filtered from these interviews.