The United Nations is coordinating talks between Ukraine, Russia and Turkey in the hope of finding security guarantees that will allow Ukraine to export its grain and help alleviate a global food crisis exacerbated by the war. However, the Ukrainian government negotiator expressed skepticism in a recent interview with the New York Times that Russia would abide by any guarantee unless Kyiv had the military power to enforce it. Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov told the Times that the country was preparing for talks in Istanbul to discuss a way to end Russia’s de facto blockade of the Black Sea port of Odessa to allow the shipment of 20 million tonnes of grain. Ukraine. in storage silos. However, he said only handing over powerful naval weapons seized by Western allies would be an effective guarantee of security, and accused Russia of seeking to use the issue to back its own position in the Black Sea. “If we open the ports, it means that the northwestern Black Sea will open in them,” he said. No international supporter, he added, “whoever guarantees us” could count on retaliation if Russia subsequently attacks Ukrainian shipping. “And they understand,” he said. “That is why they are pushing the world to push Ukraine to open its ports.” Prior to the war, Ukraine exported about six million metric tons of grain a month, Kate Newton, the UN World Food Program’s emergency coordinator in Ukraine, told a news conference in Kyiv on Thursday. Now, the country is only able to export about one million metric tons a month, he said. “We do what we can,” he said, “exporting grain by truck, train and river.” However, he said, without the use of Black Sea ports, it would not be possible to greatly increase export levels. Russian forces have also bombed grain storage facilities and fields throughout Ukraine. When Ukraine began sending grain from a port on the Danube River, the Russians bombed the main bridges that could be used by trucks to get there. In previous negotiations, Moscow has insisted on the right to “inspect” all ships carrying Ukrainian grain – a condition that Kyiv would not accept. Rustem Umerov said Ukraine was preparing for talks in Istanbul to discuss a way to ship the 20 million tonnes of grain stored in Ukraine. Credit … Dogukan Keskinkilic / Anadolu Agency, via Getty Images The Ukrainian military announced on Thursday that it had repelled Russian forces from Snake Island, a strategically important outburst whose loss could undermine Moscow’s control of the Black Sea shipping lanes. But Russia’s de facto blockade showed no signs of easing. Mr Umerov and Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba have accused Russia of sowing misinformation about who is responsible for the blockade. The issue of grain, and even the prospect of famine, have become part of an information war being waged by Moscow, Mr Umerov said. “They are arming hunger,” Mr Umerov said. They are addressing the African states, saying: “We are always ready to support you, the Ukrainians are the ones who do not open the ports”. African countries are heavily dependent on grain from Russia and Ukraine. The Russian Defense Ministry described his withdrawal from Snake Island as a humanitarian gesture and reiterated that he was not responsible for the food crisis. But in a recent appearance, Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of the Kremlin’s spokeswoman RT, appeared to suggest that the crisis could be in Moscow’s political interest. “I have heard it many times in Moscow from many people: ‘All our hope is in famine,’” he told the St. Petersburg Economic Forum on June 20, adding that the expectation of these people was that famine would lead countries to lift. . sanctions in Russia. Kyiv is working to address this narrative. Last week, Mr Kuleba spent an hour talking to reporters from Africa, stressing Ukraine ‘s urgent need to resume exports. “The only country that is not really under time pressure here is Russia,” he said in an interview. “Everyone else is running out of time, whether we are suppliers, African and Asian countries as recipients or the United Nations, whose reputation is at stake.”
