UN mulls ideas to export Ukrainian and Russian grain

| July 19, 2023

There are a “number of ideas being floated” to help get Ukrainian and Russian grain and fertiliser to global markets after Russia quit a deal allowing the safe Black Sea export of Ukraine grain, the United Nations says.

The Black Sea deal was brokered by the UN and Turkey in July last year to combat a global food crisis worsened by Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. 

Ukraine and Russia are among the world’s top grain exporters.

Russia’s withdrawal on Monday, which included revoking its guarantees for safe navigation, also ended a pact between the UN and Russia in which UN officials agreed to help Russian food and fertiliser exports reach world markets.

However, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “will continue to explore all possible avenues to ensure that Ukrainian grain, Russian grain, Russian fertiliser are out on the global market,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

“There are a number of ideas being floated,” he told reporters, without giving details.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said an alternative to the Black Sea grain deal had to be found and “there are very active discussions now”. 

He said the export of Ukrainian grain through Europe would not be able to “compensate for the absence of deliveries from Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea”.

Kuleba said the focus on reviving Black Sea shipments was either to continue within the existing framework or create a new model, but added: “The problem, of course, is what is going to happen if Russia decides to attack a vessel carrying grain.”

“We have to take risks and we have to demonstrate that we can carry on without Russia,” he told reporters on Tuesday during a visit to the UN.

Meanwhile, US military leaders say they believe Ukraine is making progress in its counteroffensive against its Russian attackers but it will take time as Russian-laid mines are slowing Ukraine from moving faster.

“Despite the enormous costs, Ukrainians are advancing steadily and deliberately, braving brutal and bloody battles to reclaim their homeland,” US Joint Chief of Staff General Mark Milley told reporters after a video meeting with the International Ukraine Contact Group to co-ordinate military assistance.

He acknowledged that the fight is slow-going but said the much-needed work of clearing Russian-laid mines is taking time.

“It is far from a failure,” he said, emphasizing that the “there’s a lot of fighting left to go”.

The war, he said “is going to be long, it’s going to be hard, it’s going to be bloody”.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin asserted that Ukraine’s allies would not let up in their support for the country.

“Our work continues, and we will do everything we can to make sure the Ukrainians can succeed.”