US welcomes extension of "grain deal", reprimands Russia's behaviour
The United States has welcomed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's announcement to extend the Black Sea Grain Initiative for another two months.
Source: Vedant Patel, Principal Deputy Spokesperson at US Department of State, at a briefing, as reported by European Pravda
Quote: "We welcome President Erdogan’s announcement of the extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative. As we’ve said before, we strongly support the U.N.’s and Türkiye’s efforts on the deal which keeps global food and grain prices low," he said.
At the same time, Patel recalled the words of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who stressed that the West should not need to remind Russia every few weeks "to keep their promises and to stop using people’s hunger as a weapon in their war against Ukraine".
Quote: "We should not need to remind Russia to stop obstructing inspections to allow grain to flow to vulnerable people who need it," the State Department representative added.
He added that the world needs "a grain deal" as well as an end to Russia's war against Ukraine, which would allow farmers to return to their fields, get agricultural trade back on track and immediately and significantly improve global food security.
Background: The day before, Erdoğan announced the extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative for another two months.
In July 2022, the UN and Türkiye reached an agreement to export Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea to help address the global food crisis caused by Russia's war against Ukraine.
Representatives from Russia, Ukraine, Türkiye, and the UN are part of the Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) in Istanbul, responsible for implementing the agreement.
The grain agreement was extended at the last moment before its expiry on 18 March. However, Moscow soon said it had agreed to an extension of only 60 days – half the standard 120-day period – and threatened to terminate the agreement if its demands were not met.
Back in April, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov once again stated that the situation with the Black Sea Grain Initiative has reached a dead end, and he blamed the West, in particular the US, for this.
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