Ukraine has several plans to continue exporting grain – foreign minister
With political will in the UN, Turkey, and Ukraine, there are enough resources to ensure the operation of the Black Sea Grain Corridor without the Russian Federation, which announced on Monday it pulled out of the grain deal.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, stated in an interview with the Voice of America that Ukraine has several plans to continue grain exports.
Plan A is to continue the functioning of the Black Sea Grain Initiative. Plan B is the supply of Ukrainian grain to world markets via the Black Sea but via an alternative route with alternative modalities. Plan C is "throwing out the Russians from Ukraine, lifting the blockade of the ports, returning Crimea to Ukraine, and removing any threat to sea trade routes."
"In fact, no matter how much we work on plan A and plan B, until plan B is implemented, Russia still will have these tools of blackmail," Ukraine's top diplomat said.
Kuleba stressed what Ukraine had repeatedly experienced when the Russian Federation threatened to withdraw from the grain agreement.
"We already had this experience. Russia took the initiative. But the UN, Turkey, and Ukraine have enough resources to ensure the functioning of this initiative, provided there is political will. And here, we clearly articulate that we have the political will. And today, I will prove the content of this letter to the Secretary-General so that the UN can formulate its position," Kuleba said.
The foreign minister, commenting on the appeal of the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, to the President of Turkey and the UN Secretary-General with a proposal to continue the operation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative without the participation of the Russian Federation, said that the relevant letters were signed.
"We are now waiting for the reaction of both Turkey and the UN, and we will be in an active dialogue with them," the minister replied.
What we know about grain deal
After the start of the full-scale invasion, the Russian occupiers began to block Ukrainian ports. Later, Turkey and the UN signed separate agreements with Ukraine and Russia regarding the "grain corridor" in the Black Sea, which provides for the export of Ukrainian food.
The initiative was continued several times. However, each time, before the deadlines expired, the Russian Federation declared that it would not continue the work of the "corridor" and tried to push for exemptions from sanctions or additional opportunities for Russian exports. But it did not achieve the result.
In recent weeks, Russian officials have threatened that Moscow will end its participation in the "grain agreement."
On July 17, the press secretary of the Russian dictator Dmitry Peskov said that the agreements regarding the "grain agreement" were terminated.
The US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said that Russia had committed "another act of cruelty" by suspending the grain agreement, which allows the export of Ukrainian grain. The Kremlin delivered "another blow to the most vulnerable sections of the population."
Also, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, condemned Russia's termination of the grain agreement.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said Ukraine is ready to continue the "grain agreement." However, this requires a response from the UN and Turkey.
