<
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/17/russia-decision-not-extend-black-sea-grain-deal-final>
"The UN secretary general, António Guterres has said he deeply regrets Russia’s
decision to terminate the Black Sea grain deal, saying hundreds of millions of
people facing hunger as well as hard-pressed consumers will pay the price for
the Kremlin’s move.
The deal was designed to alleviate a food crisis sparked by a Russian blockade
of Ukrainian ports that had frozen millions of tonnes of grain exports around
the world, much of it to developing countries.
Guterres said grain prices were already rising on the markets – having fallen
35% under the deal – after the news on Monday that Russia had terminated the
agreement.
The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, had earlier said he hoped for
progress in talks at the UN on keeping the deal alive, but Guterres’s statement
seemed an acceptance that the voluntary deal, brokered by the UN and Turkey
last year and subject to renewal every three months, was over.
The Russian state news agency
Tass quoted a senior Russian official at the UN
as saying on Monday that the decision was final. The Russian foreign minister,
Sergei Lavrov, and Turkey’s new foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, had been due to
discuss the deal.
Guterres said he deeply regretted the Russian decision, and after weeks of
holding back criticism of Moscow in the interests of renewing the deal he made
it clear that he did not accept its explanations for why it had terminated the
agreement, including the loss of Russian food markets."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
