Fears of a global food crisis loom as Black Sea grain deal nears deadline
Global News
A precarious deal brokered last summer hangs in the balance and rests on the shoulders of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the UN and the European Union.
A precarious deal brokered last summer to help feed the world hangs in the balance over whether Russian President Vladimir Putin, the United Nations and the European Union can break a deadlock.
The Black Sea grain deal, which facilitates the use of Ukrainian ports for food grain shipments and the export of Russian food and fertilizers during the ongoing war, is set to expire on Monday.
The deal last year was a crucial breakthrough, brokered by Turkey and the United Nations, that allowed Ukraine to ship 32.8 million metric tons of grain. More than half this export went to developing nations around the world, and had been cut off during Russia’s invasion.
Ukraine and Russia are both major suppliers of food grains to many countries in Africa and western Asia and the invasion had initially raised fears of a global food crisis if that access was cut off. While the Black Sea deal managed to stave off the worst, those fears have now returned with the deadline looming Monday.
Putin said on Thursday that Russia could withdraw from the deal until other sides fulfil their promises. Moscow has repeatedly threatened to block its extension over aspects of its implementation affecting Russia’s own exports.
Putin, speaking on state television, said Russia was in contact with the United Nations on the matter but said he had not seen a message addressed to him from the UN secretary-general suggesting a compromise to salvage the deal.
He also wants concessions the EU has been hesitant to allow regarding the SWIFT international payment system and a Russian agricultural bank.
The lapsing of the deal would also mean that the World Food Program’s aid programs for at-risk countries, such as Ethiopia, Somalia and Afghanistan, would be threatened.
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