The United Nations warned Wednesday that an agreement to restart grain shipments from war-torn Ukraine, which is badly needed to prevent hunger in poor countries, is in “difficult territory.”
The highly successful Black Sea Wheat Initiative was brokered by the UN and Turkey last July. It was first updated in November and updated again on March 18th.
“I think we are now in a more difficult area,” UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths told reporters.
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He stressed that the argument for continuing was “conclusive and persuasive,” stressing that “the Global South … needs the operation to continue.”
Ukraine produces cereals
Ukraine is one of the top cereal producers in the world.
After Russia launched its invasion nearly a year ago, 20 million tons of grain were blocked at the port until a safe deal was agreed.
Nearly 20 million tons of cereal have been exported since then, Griffiths said, stressing: “We don’t need to stop in mid-March.”
“I hope and I believe, in fact, that it will continue. It is because this is a clear case for international humanitarian security.
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One of the complications is that the initiative was agreed in parallel with a deal aimed at speeding up the way Russian fertilizers are exported.
‘Wheat agreement not respected’
A memorandum of understanding between the UN and Russia – due three years ago – seeks to ensure that the sanctions imposed on Moscow during the war do not hinder these exports, which are also seen as vital to the world’s food supply.
But Moscow has repeatedly complained that the deal was not honoured.
At the end of the Black Sea Grain Initiative’s deadline for renewal, Russia briefly threatened to block through the fertilizer impasse.
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Griffiths acknowledged that it was “more complicated in many ways to do (the fertilizer deal).”
“But the important things can be done,” he said, stressing that freeing up fertilizer exports is “the highest priority.”
Griffiths said a lot of work went into getting the deal done, but admitted there was “a lot to do on that front.”