“The agreement was presented with the objective of reducing threats to food security and help countries in need in Asia, Africa and Latin America. However, it turned out to be a screen to facilitate exports to Western powers,” the diplomat said during the 11th International Meeting of Senior Security Representatives.
According to the deputy minister, since August 1st, 2022, a total of more than 30.3 million tons of grain have been exported from the ports of Odessa, Yuzhni and Chernomorsk. “Most of the production, some 80 percent, went to high-income and above-average countries, including the European Union, with around 40 percent,” he said.
“States in need such as Ethiopia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Sudan and Somalia only received 722,000 tons, that is, 2.5 percent of the shipments,” he said.
According to Vershinin, despite the agreement, the European Union and the United States are increasing their package of sanctions against Russian agricultural exports, which contradicts the application of the second part of the negotiations.
He reminded that the grain agreement, proposed by UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres and signed in Istanbul on July 22nd, 2022, consists of two interlinked parts: the Black Sea Initiative on the export of Ukrainian food and ammonia and the Russia-UN Memorandum on the normalization of agricultural exports.
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