UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an acceleration of Black Sea grain shipments from Ukrainian ports under a deal allowing safe wartime exports.
The United Nations and Turkey brokered the Black Sea Grain Initiative with Russia and Ukraine in July 2022 to help tackle a global food crisis.
But food exports “have dropped significantly from a peak of 4.2 million metric tones in October 2022 to 1.3 million metric tones in May, the lowest volume since the Initiative began last year,” Deputy Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General Farhan Haq said.
“The Secretary-General calls on the parties to accelerate operations and urges them to do their utmost to ensure the continuation of this vital agreement, which is up for renewal on 17 July,” Haq said in a statement.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said last week that Russia was considering withdrawing from the Black Sea grain deal.
The UN has confirmed that it cannot do anything to address some of Russia’s central grievances, the state TASS news agency cited Russia’s Foreign Ministry as saying on Tuesday.
Haq said the United Nations was “fully committed” to supporting the implementation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative and the pact to facilitate Russia food and fertilizer exports.
“This is especially critical now as the new grain harvest begins in both Ukraine and the Russian Federation,” he said.
Source: Qatar News Agency
