Kuleba calls on the UN to firmly demand that Russia resume participation in the grain deal and stop the hunger games

By destroying the Grain Initiative, Russia is blackmailing the entire world, which affects the lives of tens of millions of people, particularly in Ukraine and countries in Africa and Asia, and threatens to increase food prices and hunger. Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said this at a meeting of the UN Security Council in New York.

“Russia has killed the Grain Deal. The immediate result will be an increase in food prices in the world. This will harm the most vulnerable countries, mostly in Africa and Asia. Russia must stop playing hunger games,” he said.

Kuleba reminded that Russia has long systematically impeded the normal functioning of the grain deal by deliberately reducing the number of inspections at the Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul and limiting the throughput to 1-2 ships per day. Now it has completely suspended the initiative.

“I call on all UN member states to firmly demand that Russia resume participation in the agreement and stop the hunger games. Russia must keep its politics out of global food security,” he emphasized.

Yesterday, Russian President Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov announced the suspension of the grain deal. He said the reason for the termination of the agreement was that “the part of the agreement concerning Russia has not been fulfilled.”

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg condemned Russia’s decision to withdraw from the Black Sea Grain Initiative. EU High Representative Josep Borrell said that hundreds of thousands of people around the world will lose basic nutrition due to Russia’s refusal to participate in the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy instructed the Foreign Ministry to prepare official signals to the United Nations and Turkey to answer whether they are ready to continue the grain initiative after Russia’s unilateral announcement of withdrawal from the agreements.

Tags: Black Sea grain deal, Ukraine, UN