The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has welcomed the extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative for another 60 days after confirmation was received from the Russian Federation to continue participating in the landmark agreement. Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier announced the extension of the UN-Türkiye-brokered deal with Russia and Ukraine.
The news comes just one day before the agreement, first penned in July last year, was due to expire – and brings a sense of relief to the broader international community, as UN officials warned earlier this week that the renewal was critical to maintaining a cooling in global food prices. Intense negotiations on the extension have continued for weeks, seeking to allay Russian concerns that it was not fully benefiting from the deal due to continued obstacles including access to ports and the SWIFT international payment system.
But a breakthrough earlier Wednesday. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says, “I welcome this decision. The continuation is good news for the world. Outstanding issues remain. But representatives of Russia, Ukraine, Türkiye, and the United Nations will keep discussing them.”
“I hope we will reach a comprehensive agreement to improve, expand and extend the Initiative – as I proposed in a recent letter to the Presidents of the three countries. I want to convey my appreciation to all those taking part in the negotiations in a spirit of constructive engagement,” says Guterres.
The two-tiered deal comes with a separate agreement to facilitate shipments of Russian food and fertilizer that Moscow complains has not been fully realised.
The deal also allows Ukraine to ship grain through a protected, demilitarized Black Sea corridor in an effort to stem food insecurity and which has resulted in the shipment of some 30-million metric tonnes of cargo from Ukrainian ports to date. The UN Chief says the extension mattered for global food security as Ukrainian and Russian products feed the world.
“Vital food supplies are reaching some of the world’s most vulnerable people and places – including 30 000 tons of wheat that just left Ukraine aboard a WFP-chartered ship to feed hungry people in Sudan. They matter because we are still in the throes of a record-breaking cost-of-living crisis.”
“Over the last year, markets have stabilized. Volatility has been reduced and we have seen global food prices fall by 20%. And they matter because they demonstrate that, even in the darkest hours, there is always a beacon of hope and an opportunity to find solutions that benefit everyone,” adds Guterres.
He also acknowledges Russian concerns about the implementation. “Looking ahead, we hope that exports of food and fertilizers, including ammonia, from the Russian Federation and Ukraine, will be able to reach global supply chains safely and predictably – as foreseen in both the Black Sea Initiative and the Memorandum of Understanding on Russian food and fertilizer exports. The implementation of which the United Nations is fully committed to support.”
And if those Russian concerns are not satisfactorily addressed in the next 60 days, expect a similar cliffhanger come the next extension deadline.
Source: SABC
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Antonio Guterres
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