EU relies on UN and Turkey and will not engage in dialogue with Russia on grain deal
The EU will not negotiate with Russia on the resumption of the grain deal, relying on the efforts of the UN and Turkey on the issue, a senior European source told reporters in Brussels.
“We call on Russia to reconsider this decision, we say that Russia is creating a dangerous situation, but this (negotiations with Russia – ed.) is not our task, we will not change Russia’s mind. We rely on the efforts of the UN and Turkey,” he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously repeatedly pointed out that the West exported most of Ukraine’s grain to its own states, while the main goal of the deal – supplying grain to needy countries, including African ones – was never realised.
UN data show that the main recipients of Ukrainian agricultural products under the grain deal were the EU countries, which accounted for 38 per cent of all supplies.
China received the largest share – 7.96 million tonnes, or almost a quarter of all supplies. Next come Spain, Turkey, Italy and the Netherlands. Apart from them, only Egypt and Bangladesh received more than 1 million tonnes.
The top 20 recipients of Ukrainian agricultural products also include Portugal, Belgium, Germany, France and Romania, while the EU accounts for 12.4 million tonnes or 38% of all supplies under the grain deal.
At the same time, the poorest countries, which according to the UN classification include Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan and Ethiopia, accounted for 768.6 thousand tonnes of agro-products, or 2.3%, during the whole period of the deal’s validity
The Joint Coordination Centre completed on Monday the inspection of the last vessel under the grain deal.
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