European Commission calls for continuation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative

The European Commission is assessing the negotiations on the Black Sea Grain Initiative under the leadership of the UN and Turkey and calls on all parties to this agreement to extend it to ensure the supply of Ukrainian grain to its consumers on the world market. This was stated today in Brussels during a press briefing by EU spokesperson Peter Stano.

This is how the spokesperson answered the journalists’ question whether the European Commission is considering lifting sanctions against the Russian Agricultural Bank to allow Russia to extend the Black Sea Grain Agreement.

“Let us recall the circumstances: if there had been no criminal aggression by Russia against Ukraine, we would not have had to discuss the Black Sea Grain Initiative now. The European Commission’s priorities in this case and in its continuation are the possibility of delivering Ukrainian grain to consumers on the world market. We urge all parties to continue this important initiative. We appreciate the UN and Turkish leadership of the negotiations and are ready to consider all solutions that meet our goal of limiting Russia’s ability to wage an aggressive war against Ukraine as much as possible,” said Peter Stano.

He did not comment on speculation in the press about Russia’s demands to lift sanctions against the Russian bank, citing the fact that sanctions are the prerogative of member states, and their discussion at the stage of preparing restrictive measures is confidential.

As reported, in July 2022, the EU adopted the sixth package of sanctions against Russia in connection with its aggression against Ukraine, which, in particular, banned the use of the Specialized Financial Institutions for the Interconnection of Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) for three more Russian credit institutions: Sberbank, Credit Bank of Moscow and Russian Agricultural Bank.

In May of this year, the grain deal was extended for two months, until July 18, 2023. The Ukrainian government claims that the Russian side is actually blocking the grain initiative, including open sabotage of ship inspections stipulated by the agreement. At the same time, Russia is threatening not to extend the Black Sea Grain Initiative any further.

Tags: EU, Black Sea Grain Initiative