Grain deal "everything": Russia got a "joke" of the West

Having twice extended the regime for the export of Ukrainian grain for two months, Russia withdrew from the agreements, some of which were not fulfilled. On July 17, Moscow sent its objections to Ankara, Kyiv and the UN regarding the extension of the "grain deal," according to a correspondent for The Moscow Post.

"A year later, the results of the work on the implementation of the" Black Sea initiative "look disappointing," the Russian Foreign Ministry said. The Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the UN said that the deal has turned from a humanitarian to a commercial project of the West. The main goal of these agreements, which was to supply grain to needy countries, including African ones, was never realized.

Due to non-fulfillment of agreements

The head of the diplomatic department, Sergei Lavrov, stated that "due to the non-fulfillment of the Russian part of the package agreements of the Russia-UN Memorandum, in particular, the continuation of blocking Russian bank payments, insurance and transport logistics, freezing of our foreign assets and supplies of domestic agricultural products and fertilizers to world markets," the implementation of agreements on grain was stopped from July 18.

The Russian Federation is curtailing work in a joint coordination center in Istanbul, which registered and inspected ships that exported grain. Guarantees of the safety of navigation will be withdrawn, and the maritime humanitarian corridor will not operate. In the northwestern part of the Black Sea, the regime of a temporarily dangerous area will be restored.

The parties who will try to continue the implementation of the "grain deal" without the participation of Russia should take into account the risks associated with the fact that the route for the export of Ukrainian grain passes near the area of ​ ​ hostilities, said the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov.

During the year of the existence of the "Black Sea Initiative," 32.8 million tons of grain were exported, of which more than 70% (26.3 million tons) were sent to countries with high and higher average levels of income, including the EU. The poorest states, in particular Ethiopia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Sudan and Somalia, accounted for less than 3%, a total of 922.1 tons of wheat.

Corridor for terrorism

Under the terms of the agreements, Russia did not block the Black Sea ports under the control of Kyiv. The Armed Forces of Ukraine used this to conduct military provocations, terrorist attacks on cities, facilities and citizens of the Russian Federation.

"The humanitarian corridor is regularly used to cover up terrorist attacks by the Kyiv regime: in October, and then in March and April, unmanned boats tried to attack the Black Sea Fleet and civilian infrastructure. It cannot be ruled out that the terrorist attack on the Crimean bridge was again carried out under the cover of a grain security corridor. <…> We support the termination of the grain deal in these conditions, "wrote Vyacheslav Volodin, Chairman of the State Duma of the Russian Federation.

"Stopping a grain deal is absolutely the right thing to do. Under her cover, weapons, ammunition and long-range missiles were delivered to Ukraine, "said Major General Leonid Ivlev, a State Duma deputy from the Republic of Crimea.

There can be no grain deal after the next terrorist act, "said Sergei Mironov, chairman of the Fair Russia - For Truth party and head of the Duma faction of the NFLP.

A tough statement was made by the Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation: "World and our own experience shows that it is impossible to fight terrorists with international sanctions, intimidation or admonitions. They only understand the language of power. Only personal and completely inhumane methods".

Under the auspices of Washington

The terrorists of the Armed Forces of Ukraine remain under the auspices of Washington and the allies of the United States, use all types of support from the West. According to Moscow, the so-called deal to export Ukrainian grain through humanitarian corridors in the Black Sea has worked for the past year only in one direction.

Moreover, before everyone's eyes, terrorist attacks on Russia continued with the help of surface unmanned boats that used the grain corridor. This was not without the participation of Washington and London, especially Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser to the head of the White House.

According to Seymour Hersh, Sullivan planned other "explosions on the water," including those that destroyed the Northern Streams in September 2022. Sullivan leads or makes foreign policy decisions at the White House, has been a key link between Kyiv and Washington. In particular, with its presentation, the "Black Sea Initiative" turned out to be a deception organized under the slogans of food security and concern about the humanitarian needs of the poorest countries.

Food security issues

The categorical judgments of Russian parliamentarians that linked Kyiv terrorism with the "grain deal" did not find support at the level of senior management. The head of the presidential press service, Dmitry Peskov, said that after withdrawing from the grain deal, Russia is still ready to replace the supply of Ukrainian grain for countries in need for free.

He also assured that the country will "immediately return" to the Istanbul agreements as soon as the part of them that unlocks the export of fertilizers and agricultural products from the Russian Federation to world markets is fulfilled. According to Peskov, the explosion on the Crimean bridge did not affect these decisions.

In the speeches of Russian representatives to the UN Security Council, glare of hope was also heard. Beijing also hopes. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said that all participants in the grain deal will be able to resolve the issue of international food security "through dialogue and consultations.

Permanent Representative of the People's Republic of China to the UN Zhang Jun spoke in favor of "continuing contacts between all interested parties" and advised "to take into account the interests of Russia." China purchased significant volumes of Ukrainian grain.

Turkey, as the chief architect of the Black Sea initiative, retains the hope that the "Black Sea initiative" will be resuscitated. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, commenting on Moscow's decision, said that the deal has already gone down in history as a diplomatic success and expressed confidence that "Putin wants this humanitarian corridor to continue to function."

Sergei Lavrov, during a telephone conversation with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan, discussed the results of the joint work of Moscow and Ankara within the framework of the "Black Sea initiative," other options for supplying grain to the most needy countries, not dependent on the subversive actions of Kyiv and its Western patrons, the Russian Foreign Ministry website says.

This is not the fault of the UN Secretary General

At first, the Russian diplomatic department criticized the UN leadership and the organization's secretary general, Antonio Guterres, for insufficient efforts to implement the Russian part of the agreements. But in general, Russia positively assessed the participation of the World Organization in attempts to preserve the "grain deal." Its termination is not the fault of the UN Secretary General and Russia highly appreciates the efforts of Antonio Guterres, Peskov said.

Maybe this is quite justified, since there is no one to "complain further".

According to the UN Secretary General himself, he failed to agree with the European Commission on the connection of the subsidiary of Rosselkhozbank to SWIFT. All hope now is that the countries interested in the deal, their governments and national delegations to the UN will draw the right conclusions and take at least a neutral position towards Russia.

Those wishing to blame Russia for everything are known. The US National Security Council called on Moscow to reconsider a decision that would "worsen food security and harm millions" of people. According to Sullivan, withdrawing from the "Black Sea initiative" will cost Russia large diplomatic costs due to the fact that food "at affordable prices" will no longer flow to the countries of the Global South, Africa, Latin America and Asia.

The European Union proposed to use "solidarity routes" bypassing the Black Sea for the export of Ukrainian grain. In particular, the EU is considering a project to change the width of the railway gauge on the border with Ukraine. The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, "strongly condemned" Russia. The press service of the German government proposed not to resolve disputes "at the expense of the poorest people on this planet." Zelensky instructed his diplomats to notify Ankara and the UN of their readiness to continue supplying grain.

Hysteria over Moscow's decision to suspend participation in non-working agreements has already caused attacks by the Western coalition in the UN Security Council. We can expect that this issue can be raised during the upcoming session of the UNGA.

The Black Sea Initiative was signed on July 22, 2022 by representatives of Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the UN. This agreement involved the export of Ukrainian grain and food, as well as fertilizers along the Black Sea from three ports, including Odessa. The coordination of the movement of ships was carried out by the Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul.

The grain initiative was part of a package agreement. Its second part - a memorandum between Russia and the UN, designed for three years - provided for the unblocking of Russian exports of food and fertilizers, the connection of Rosselkhozbank to SWIFT, the resumption of supplies of agricultural machinery, spare parts and service services, the restoration of the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline and a number of other measures. This part of the batch arrangement was not executed.