Russia says before UN talks in Moscow, talk to Ukraine about ports, not us

A shipyard worker watches how barley grain is mechanically poured into a 40,000-ton vessel at the cargo terminal of a Ukrainian agricultural exporter in the southern Ukrainian city of Nikolaev on July 9, 2013. REUTERS/Vincent Mundy/File Photo

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia said on Wednesday that a senior UN official would visit Moscow in the coming days to discuss reviving fertilizer exports, stressing that the talks were not linked to the resumption of Ukrainian grain. shipments.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Ukraine’s grain shipments from its Black Sea ports have been halted and more than 20 million tons of grain stuck in silos, while Moscow says it has been crippled by the horrific impact of Western sanctions imposed on Russia over the war. Fertilizer and grain exports.

The conflict is fueling a global food crisis with soaring prices for grain, cooking oils, fuel and fertilizer. Russia and Ukraine account for nearly a third of the world’s wheat supply, while Russia is also a major global exporter of fertilizers and Ukraine is a major exporter of corn and sunflower oil.

“Officially, fertilizers and grains are not subject to sanctions, but there are logistical, transportation, insurance and bank transfer problems” caused by Western sanctions that “prevent us from freely exporting,” Nebenzia said.

“We are ready to export fertilizer and grain from our ports to the world market,” he said, adding that when it comes to Ukrainian grain exports – “I think that it should be negotiated with the Ukrainians, and not with the Russians.”

But Western officials say any agreement on access to Ukrainian ports needs a Russian agreement, citing what they say is a Russian blockade and the need for security guarantees.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who visited Moscow and Kiev last month, is having “extensive contacts” with Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, the United States and the European Union in an effort to broker what he calls a “comprehensive deal” for its resumption. Ukrainian food exports and Russian food and fertilizer exports.

“Turkey is willing to contribute to some sort of monitoring of these exports from Odessa through the Black Sea because Turkey has traditionally been very strong in the Black Sea and they are ready to help,” said a senior European diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“corridor exit”

Nebenzia said Rebecca Greenspan, a UN trade and development official, was scheduled to discuss Russian exports during a visit to Moscow in the coming days. She is the coordinator of the United Nations Global Crisis Response Group on Food, Energy and Finance, which aims to combat global economic shocks from the Ukraine war.

Nebenzia also said he believed UN aid chief Martin Griffiths was due to visit Moscow sometime in early June, but did not know “to what extent” Griffiths was involved in discussions about grain and fertilizer exports.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric declined to comment.

The United States and other countries accuse Russia of blocking Ukraine’s ports. Nebenzia said there are 80 nautical miles (148 km) long and 3 nautical miles (5.5 km) “safe corridors” allowing access to the main Ukrainian port of Odessa on the Black Sea, but Ukraine needs to clear the waters.

“They blew up the ports, not us,” Nebenzia said on Wednesday. “There is a lane that exists and they are not using it.”

And Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba poured out his scorn on the suggestion that Moscow wants to allow Ukraine to ship grain, telling the World Economic Forum in Davos: “You can’t find a better example of blackmail in international relations.”

Odessa is Ukraine’s main deep-water port and is used to handle almost all grain exports. It has suffered a number of Russian missile attacks, and Kyiv fears that Moscow wants to capture it, possibly through an amphibious assault.

The Russian Defense Ministry said the port of Mariupol, the shallow-water Ukrainian city of Azov which Russia captured after a long siege, was operating normally after Russian forces finished clearing the mines.

Reporting by Reuters. Writing by Michelle Nichols and Kevin Levy; Editing by Gareth Jones, Rosalba O’Brien and Himani Sarkar

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