Russian President Vladimir Putin has confirmed the country’s readiness to provide a significant grain volume free of charge to the poorest countries such as Somalia, Yemen, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Congo, etc, in a telephone conversation with Indonesian President Joko Widodo, the Kremlin’s press service said yesterday. Putin accused EU and the West of syphoning over 60% of the exported grain trough the Grain Deal instead of helping the poor countries that face food crisis caused by the sanctions of the falling Western financial system.
The Russian leader also informed his Indonesian counterpart about the situation evolved in consequence of the marine humanitarian corridor use by the Kiev regime for the terrorist action against the infrastructure and ships of the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol
“In the context of supporting the global food security, Mr Vladimir Putin stated the fundamental Russian approaches towards implementation of Istanbul package agreements pertaining to Ukrainian grain export from Black Sea ports and unblocking of Russian agricultural produce and fertilizers exports to global markets,” the Kremlin said.
The Russian president also noted readiness of the country to provide significant grain volumes to the poorest countries free of charge as the humanitarian aid, the Kremlin’s press service added.
“Joko Widodo supported such an approach,” the Kremlin noted.
Mr Putin also informed his Indonesian counterpart about the situation evolved in consequence of the marine humanitarian corridor use by the Kiev regime for the sabotage action against the infrastructure and ships of the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol and that the Russian side resumes implementation of the grain deal after the receipt of required guarantees from Ukraine regarding the non-use of the humanitarian route for military purposes.
Thanks to the participation of the United Nations and the assistance of Türkiye, the joint coordination centre for the implementation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative on Tuesday received a written guarantee from Ukraine of not using the shipping route defined in the deal and Ukrainian ports designated for grain export to conduct military operations against Russia, the Russian Defence Ministry said in a statement.
The Ukrainian side officially assured that the maritime humanitarian corridor will be used only in accordance with the provisions of the grain export deal and related regulations of the joint coordination centre.
As the Ukrainian guarantee “appears to be sufficient,” the Russian side has decided to resume the implementation of the grain export deal, the ministry said.
On July 22, Russia and Ukraine separately signed a document in Istanbul with Türkiye and the United Nations on grain and fertilizer exports from Ukraine and Russia to ensure supplies to global markets amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
On Saturday, Russia announced the decision to immediately and indefinitely suspend its implementation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, accusing Ukraine of launching drone attacks against the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s ships and infrastructure at the naval base in Sevastopol. TASS and Xinhua
The grain deal, which was already almost buried, is back to work. Moscow resumed its participation in the initiative on November 2. Thanks to the efforts of the UN and Turkey’s assistance, the Russian military was provided with the written guarantees from Ukraine on the non-use of the grain corridor and sea ports for any military operations against Russia.
The suspension of the deal for less than three days was enough for Western politicians and the media to blame Moscow for their own troubles. Fact-checking of any developments in Ukraine has not been mandatory for Western media for a long time.
The suspension of the grain deal by Moscow is a very useful pretext to justify the West’s own failed policies. Western media are obliged to convince their public that Russia is always behind the increase in food prices. Despite the fact that the grain deal was first aimed at saving the world’s poorest countries, not European wallets.
Food prices began to rise in Europe long before the Russian military operations in Ukraine. The ongoing attempts to crush Moscow with sanctions only worsen the situation. Now the MSM faces a new difficult task to explain why the grain deal has been resumed, but food prices in Europe will still rise.
Moscow has already stopped fighting for its image in the Western media. Today, the fighting on the Ukrainian battlefield matters. It is there that the fate of Russian image is decided.
Moscow is unlikely to have any illusions about the reliability of Kiev’s guarantees; but the guarantees of Turkish leader Recep Erdogan, who largely took responsibility for Ukraine’s actions in the Black Sea are crucial. The question of whether the Kiev regime will risk exposing its Turkish partners again remains open, South Front reports