Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Black Sea Grain Initiative topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Russian Envoy Says Window Exists to Revive Black Sea Grain Deal; UN Role Unclear
Summary
The Russian representative to the United Nations said there is a window to revive the Black Sea grain agreement but that implementation of a separate memorandum on Russian agricultural exports stalled over sanctions, and he left the specific role of the United Nations in a potential revived deal undefined.
The Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations told the Security Council that U.N. efforts helped implement part of the Black Sea grain initiative but that the second element -- a Russia-U.N. memorandum on access for Russian agricultural products and fertilizers to international markets -- had not been fully implemented. "Miss Greenspan and secretary Guterres were acting in good faith, and they tried to do a lot," the representative said.
He described the initiative as a two-part package: the grain corridor to allow shipments from Ukrainian ports and a separate memorandum addressing Russian agricultural exports and fertilizer access. He said the memorandum "was not implemented ... because Western countries didn't want to lift sanctions" on entities involved.
When asked about a ceasefire in the Black Sea, the representative said a ceasefire is "part of this package" and that it would come into force when "these conditions are met," placing implementation decisions in the hands of the conflict parties. He added that the U.N. previously operated a ship-monitoring mechanism that "didn't work quite satisfactorily."
On whether the United Nations would perform inspections or a monitoring role under any revived arrangement, the representative said the matter was not yet at a stage for negotiating concrete implementation parameters and suggested the United States would need to use its influence to back implementation. "Now it's the time for The US to step in and to try to put its weight, behind the implementation of these very important agreements," he said.
The representative expressed cautious optimism, saying a renewed effort could lead to a "rebirth of this initiative" provided involved parties act "in good faith," but he offered no details on timelines, operational arrangements or which international mechanism would be used. No formal Security Council resolution or mechanism was proposed in the exchange recorded in the transcript.
