UN chief Guterres sends proposal to Russia to revive Black Sea grain deal

The United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, reportedly issued a new proposal to Russia with an emphasis on revitalizing the Black Sea grain deal, as reported by The Washington Post.

The plan sought to revive the pact that allowed Ukraine to transport about 33,000 tons of food at a time of rising global famine by facilitating the export of grain and fertilizer to international markets.

The UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, addressed a letter to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov earlier this week, but it did not sit well with the Russian government.

Thursday, after meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Lavrov claimed at a press conference that he had given Ankara “a list of actions” the West would have to follow in order to resume Ukrainian exports, as reported by The Post.

During a press conference at the United Nations on Thursday, Guterres said he had written a letter to Lavrov with “a set of concrete proposals, allowing to create the conditions for the renewal of the Black Sea initiative.”

“We have some concrete solutions for the concerns allowing for an effective, or more effective access of Russian food and fertilizers to global markets at adequate prices,” Guterres was quoted as saying by The Post.

The UN head added that a revived Black Sea project must be “stable” and not go “from crisis to crisis, from suspension to suspension.” The first 120-day agreement was extended twice, once by 120 days and then by 60 days.

According to The Post’s report, Guterres told reporters, “I believe that working seriously we can have a positive solution for everybody – for Ukraine, for the Russian Federation, but more important than anything else for the world in a moment when so many countries are facing enormous difficulties in relation to guaranteeing the food security of their populations.”

Before the General Assembly’s annual summit of world leaders begins on September 18, Guterres said he saw little chance of peace in Ukraine. Because of this, he continued, we must “take measures to reduce the dramatically negative impacts of this war in relation to the world.”

As for the upcoming summit between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoan and Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, Turkey’s Foreign Minister indicated during his meeting with Lavrov, that Moscow was in “preparation” for the summit.

Fidan noted that the grain agreement was “quite a complicated and laborious job,” adding that when Erdogan and Putin meet, they “will take a more strategic and political view.”

On September 1, Fidan will meet with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who played a role in the deal’s discussions.

Immediately following the meeting, Lavrov told reporters, “As soon as talks turn into concrete decisions, we’ll be ready to resume the Ukrainian part of the grain package that same day,” as reported by The Post.

Notably, in July of 2022, the UN and Turkey negotiated an agreement allowing Ukraine to use three Black Sea ports for the shipment of grain and other food items. The Post reports that in a separate pact, the United Nations and Russia agreed to remove any barriers that prevented Russian food and fertilizer from reaching international markets.

Conflict between Russia and Ukraine, two important “breadbaskets” for the world, drove up food prices worldwide, prompting the accord.

Russia canceled the Black Sea grain project at the beginning of July, citing difficulty in securing funding, insurance, and shipping for its fertilizer and grain supplies, as well as claims that the Ukraine pact only benefited richer nations.

The Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul, which coordinated the shipments from Ukraine, reportedly revealed that 57% of the grain went to developing nations, with roughly a quarter of it going to China.