Three more grain ships departed from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports on Tuesday, a day after President Vladimir V. Putin signaled that Russia would no longer guarantee the safety of cargo ships, a news report said. The message highlights the dangers that are being faced a watershed agreement to help alleviate the global food crisis.
According to Ismini Palla, a United Nations spokesman for the organization that oversees the deal, known as the Black Sea Grain Initiative, Russian authorities were notified of the departure of the ships on Tuesday. . On Monday, 12 grain ships sailed without incident from Ukrainian ports. Palla said leaving Ukraine and ships leaving Ukraine on Tuesday had been authorized before the deal was suspended.
Russia announced on Saturday that it will stop participating in the deal following an attack over the weekend on the Black Sea Navy fleet that it blamed on Ukraine. But the decision by Moscow has not yet completely stopped the movement of boats, at least for the moment.
Ukraine is one of the world’s major exporters of wheat and other grains, and the July agreement, brokered with the help of Turkey and the United Nations, has given the economy hope. Ukraine’s broken economy as well as the prospect of relief for dozens of countries in Africa and beyond are facing food shortages.
Speaking at a late-night press conference on Monday after meeting the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Sochi, Russia, Putin reiterated that Russia was pausing its participation in the agreement, stressing that Ukraine will undertake the task of ensuring the safety of an established corridor for the safe export of grain out of Ukraine.
Putin does not rule out that Russia will again honor the grain deal. “We are not saying that we will stop participating in this activity,” Putin said. “We’re saying we’re pausing it.”
Mr. Putin also replied curtly and ominously when asked by a state television journalist if Missiles on Monday hit Ukraine It was in response to an attack on Russia’s Black Sea Fleet over the weekend. “This is part of the case,” Putin said. “But this is not all we can do.”
Moscow’s decision means it stops participating in ship inspections in the port of Istanbul – and ensures the security of any cargo ships passing through the Black Sea, where its navy dominates.
The Russian Defense Ministry underscored that point in a statement Monday night, saying that vessel traffic through the safe corridor set up for the grain initiative was “unacceptable.” They accused the Ukrainian military, without providing evidence, of using the corridor to “conduct operations” against Russia and said that “there can be no question of ensuring safety” until Ukraine gives made an additional commitment not to use it for “military purposes”.
Highlighting the potential risks to Ukraine’s grain exports, the Ukrainian military said on Monday that Russian shelling of the port in Ochakiv, located on the Black Sea, hit two civilian tugboats involved. transport a grain barge. Two people were killed and another crew member was injured. The incident and the vessels involved do not appear to be directly related to the grain trade.
The statement by the Russian Ministry of Defense – along with a statement by Russia’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzya, was reported by Interfax that Moscow “cannot allow ships to pass through without obstruction without it. our inspection” – signaling that the movement of grain ships may not continue.
UN officials have held talks with Russia, Ukraine and Turkey, leading some analysts to believe agreement can be restored. And President Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey say on monday that his government will continue to work to overcome Moscow’s objections. The Kremlin sees the deal, which will lapse in mid-November unless it is renewed, as leverage to achieve a larger war goal, analysts say.
Alexandra Prokopenko, an independent analyst and Russia expert who writes for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, says that one goal of Russia could be to secure further exemptions from food and fertilizer exports. themselves from so-called hidden sanctions, such as rising insurance costs. ships.
Ivan Nechepurenko and Safak Timur contribution report.
