Russia on Wednesday agreed to rejoin the deal that has allowed grain shipments to leave Ukraine’s Black Sea ports after successful mediation from Turkey.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan announced that grain shipments resumed out of safe corridors set up by the agreement at 12pm Moscow time on Wednesday.
Erdogan spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the agreement on Tuesday, and Russia’s defense minister notified his Turkish counterpart the following day that Moscow will resume its participation in the deal.
Moscow said it suspended its participation in response to a weekend drone attack on its Black Sea Fleet in Crimea it blamed on Ukraine. Russia claimed that some of the drones traveled through the safe corridors to launch the attack.
Russian officials said they agreed to resume participation in the deal after receiving guarantees from Ukraine. “We managed to receive written guarantees from Ukraine that it will not use the humanitarian corridor and Ukrainian ports involved in the export of agricultural goods to conduct military activities against Russia,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Russia’s short pause in the deal didn’t have much impact on grain shipments, as vessels were still moving out of Ukraine on Monday and Tuesday. Putin warned that Russia could suspend its participation again if Ukraine doesn’t live up to its guarantees.
“I have given instructions to the Defense Ministry to resume our full participation in this endeavor. At the same time, Russia reserves the right to withdraw from these agreements, if these guarantees are violated by Ukraine,” he said.
The grain deal is due to expire on November 19, and Russia has warned it may not extend the agreement. As part of the deal, which was signed in July, Russia was given assurances that there would be steps to facilitate the export of Russian agricultural products, but Moscow says that hasn’t happened.
Biden/Blinken have done all they can to make Russia look heartless for stopping Ukraine grain exports while quietly impeding Russia’s grain and fertilizer exports. But I think that’s about to boomerang because in addition to announcing that the agreement will be extended, Russia announced that it will be providing free grain to poor countries.
If they do not honor its commitments to facilitate the exports of Russian grain, the US will be the country being called heartless. Also, Ukraine won’t be selling any grain to poor countries as long as Russia is willing to provide it free. Given that 41% of Ukraine’s exports are agricultural products, the cost paid by US taxpayers to keep Ukraine’s economy afloat will increase.
Obviously, Russia will also have to bear some cost. But if sanctions are already hurting Russia’s grain exports, they may not have much to lose.
We are heartless.
Putin: We are suspending the Grain deal.
Erdogan: Ok, but we will continue it without you.
Putin: We are rejoining the deal.
The bully got bullied again.
How much grain are we shipping to poor nations?
Who’s WE?
A great deal of the first shipments by Ukraine went to the advanced countries, and it was this that the Russians were talking about. Most of it ended up in Europe, if memory serves.
Again, Who’s we?
Try reading the posts before you respond to them.
This is the one big area where Erdogan has supreme influence. If you want to run sea traffic in and out of the Black Sea, you don’t want to be on his wrong side.
Absolutely. He is in a unique position and he knows it.
One liners. No wonder your posts don’t ignite interesting discussions. Come on, you’re better than this, right? Look at the comment you downvoted. It provides an example that gets us beyond grade school taunts.
I’m pretty sure I’m not trying to generate discussions as these aren’t discussions but arguments we only win in our minds.
My posts vary on context and some are just venting like most folks here however, you seem to think you are right all the time and everybody that disagrees with you is wrong.
Don’t be so stressed, I’ having a beer right now.
Not stressed, but still looking for something from you that is substantive. You only offer spoilers.
People here are anti-war. This means they disapprove of all warfare as the means of settling conflict, including the one in Ukraine. This does not mean, however, that they have nothing of substance to say about how this war was initiated.
You on the other hand, have nothing but schoolyard BS, AFAICS.
Prove me wrong and write something which refutes the history behind this conflict as described by most of the regulars here.
Even when i post with substance and sources, you still call me liar, dumb and all kind of BS. I’m not here to satisfy your personal blog requirements.
Most people here are not antiwar, they are Anti US/West/NATO. And they blindly side with our adversaries such as Putin because they want to see US/West fail badly, just so they can prove their point.
If you have a problem with my posts, go ahead and block me. Just go to any of my post and click on the dropdown arrow to the right, select block user and you’ll be fee of me. EDIT: You’ll have less downvotes and have more people you agree with.
But I think, deep down, you need my comments because they give you a purpose to counter them with your personal BS lines.
Wrong. I only call you on your posts when they are just vacuous schoolyard taunts. As to whether I need your comments here, the answer is no. The forum I was in before is daily filled with comments re the Russians just like yours. It’s Political Wire. You should have a look at it.
I don’t use the block as a rule, as I think it constitutes a form of cowardice in a discussion forum.
By the way, your second paragraph shows how deep in that hole you sit.
Here you go again with your Wrong!!!
Well, your characterization of me is wrong. How about Incorrect? Will that work?