2023-07-15 15:46:00
This Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the main objective of the Ukrainian grain deal had not been achieved, during a phone call with his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa. As a reminder, this agreement has made it possible, over the past year, to remove nearly 33 million tonnes of cereals from Ukrainian ports despite the conflict. Except that following two renewals, the agreement which expires on July 17 is at an impasse.
The Russian President said, among other things, underlined that the obligations set out in the Russia-UN memorandum on the removal of obstacles for the export of Russian food products and fertilizers are still not fulfilled “Said the Kremlin in a statement reporting this conversation between MM. Putin and Ramaphosa and that “the main objective of the agreement, the delivery of cereals to countries in need, particularly on the African continent, is not achieved”.
The old, however, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had assured that Vladimir Putin agreed to extend this agreement.
NATO promises a “clear” and “positive” message to Ukraine on its membership, without setting a date
Essential Ukrainian grain production
But, for its part, the Kremlin has denied any agreement with Erdogan, saying that none of the Russian demands were taken into account during the negotiations to extend the agreement. The South African and Russian leaders also discussed together the preparations for the Brics summit in South Africa at the end of August as well as those for the Russia-Africa summit, scheduled for the end of July in Saint Petersburg. The leaders referred to the initiative for a peace in Ukraine promoted by several African leaders.
Ukraine’s production is considered essential to prevent a surge in food prices on the world market, which might trigger a food crisis in the most vulnerable countries.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, for his part, assured that he wanted to convince the Russian president who complained of not being able to deliver his own products, in particular fertilizers, to Brazil. He said he wanted to lift the obstacles to these Russian exports, also planned for July 2022 by a parallel agreement, by “eliminating impediments to financial transactions of the Agricultural Bank of Russia”.
Ukrainian cereals: “no reason” to extend the agreement according to Russia
South Korea will help Ukraine
At the same time, new announcements were made on the conflict between Ukraine and Russia. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol vowed on Saturday to ” increase the magnitude for its humanitarian aid and non-lethal military assistance to Ukraine, following a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv. His country’s humanitarian aid to Ukraine will increase to $150 million in 2023 from $100 million in 2022.
The Asian country has a long-standing policy of not supplying arms to regions in conflict, despite repeated pleas from the United States, European allies and Ukraine itself for more aid. But Seoul has hinted it may reconsider its policy of not supplying lethal weapons, as the president’s office indicated earlier this year that a large-scale Russian attack on civilians might be a game-changer.
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