Will Russia once again extend the “swindle” grain deal – disposition

“We know about the statements of various parties, including the Kyiv regime, regarding the extension of the Black Sea Initiative, the second term (120 days) of which expires on March 18, we know. Negotiations on this score, especially with the participation of Russian representatives, were not conducted.

Moscow’s position on this issue remains unchanged: the agreements concluded in Istanbul on July 22, 2022 must be implemented in conjunction.

The Russian authorities believe that the agreements concluded earlier do not work, since only one part of the package is being implemented – the export of Ukrainian grain. But this process is far from the declared humanitarian goals – the lion’s share of the products goes at dumping prices to the European Union (as the fraudsters planned), and not to starving countries.

The designated scam began to be prepared at the beginning of last summer. Then the Ukrainian president Vladimir Zelenskyalmost crying, informed mankind that twenty to twenty-five million tons of agricultural products intended for export were blocked on the territory of Nezalezhnaya: wheat, corn, barley, sunflower oil.

And immediately, as if on the go-ahead, the risk of a global food crisis was announced by representatives of the UN, the President of the United States Joe Biden and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron.

Moscow then asserted: Russia does not prevent the export of grain from Ukraine, and “no one bothers Kyiv” to clear mine ports for the passage of ships or export grain in other ways.

As a result, the UN and Turkey assumed the role of a mediator in resolving the problem. At the end of July, Russia and Ukraine separately signed an agreement on an international grain deal with them.

It included two parts: the Black Sea Grain Initiative – an agreement on the safe export of Ukrainian grain from the ports of Odessa, Chornomorsk and Yuzhny, and the removal of restrictions on the access of Russian agricultural products to the world market (this part of the deal was enshrined in a Memorandum of Understanding signed between Russia and UN).

Moreover, representatives of the UN and Turkey undertook to control that no ammunition or weapons would be transported on ships with agricultural products. The agreement implied: the deal is automatically extended if there are no objections from any of the parties. Initially, the agreement was concluded for 120 days, until November 18, but then it was extended until March 18.

According to RBC, the Russian authorities have repeatedly noted that the second part of the grain deal, which concerns exports from Russia, is not being implemented. At the end of September the president Vladimir Putin called the situation around the grain deal “a complete swindle.”

In early March of this year, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement accusing Western countries of sabotaging the agreements of the UN “humanitarian package”. Diplomats recalled that the UN Secretary General’s plan envisaged the normalization of food and fertilizer supplies from Russia and Ukraine as part of a single package.

But the package of agreements signed in Istanbul does not work, because only a part of the export of Ukrainian grain is being implemented, while “open obstacles” are being created for agricultural exports from Russia.

The ministry insists: at the moment, the grain deal is similar to serving Ukraine’s commercial grain exports. Of the more than twenty-three million tons (mainly feed corn and feed grains), the bulk, 47%, is exported to high-income countries, primarily the EU, and 34% to upper-middle-income countries.

At the same time, the Ukrainian authorities “for political reasons” do not allow the resumption of ammonia supplies through the Togliatti-Odessa pipeline, despite the clauses prescribed in both Istanbul agreements.

And Russian fertilizers in the ports of the Baltic States and the Netherlands, donated to the poorest countries, remain blocked: out of 262,000 tons, one batch was sent: 20,000 tons to the South African state of Malawi.

“Progress in the implementation of the Russia-UN Memorandum on the normalization of our agricultural exports tends to zero”, – lament in the Russian Foreign Ministry.

But Kyiv has already sent an appeal to Turkey and the UN with a request to initiate negotiations on the extension of the grain deal. Deputy Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Yuri Vaskov announced the country’s desire to extend the grain deal for at least a year (instead of another 120 days) and add an additional port – Nikolaev.

Statements in support of the extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative were made by the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrellforeign ministers of the G7, representatives of Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

At the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, participating countries called for “full, timely, improved and permanent implementation” of the grain deal and the Russia-UN Memorandum of Understanding to reduce threats to global food security.

Moreover, in early March, the US State Department urged Russia to “maintain and expand the grain deal, because it leads to lower food prices for everyone.”

A spokesman for the Turkish President Ibrahim Kalyn said: Ankara received guarantees from Washington on the entry of Russian agricultural products to the markets.

By the way, about Turkey. The other day, our Turkish partners stopped the transit of sanctioned cargoes going through their territory to Russia. As if because of the fear of possible sanctions, but there is an opinion that behind such a decision is a hint to Moscow – be softer on the issue of extending the “grain deal”.

Although much softer. For in the presence of all the identified problems, on November 17 last year, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported as expected:
the grain deal, which expired on November 18 (inclusive), was automatically extended for 120 days. There were NO objections, as reported by the Foreign Ministry.

Accordingly, with what fright will they take on March 18? The people in Africa are starving, you need to understand. And fertilizers with ammonia can wait. Not the first time. Although, I would love to be wrong. And you?!