BEIJING, Nov 6 There is no return to the previous Black Sea grain deal If it turns out that a new agreement is needed, it would be good if the parties at least agree not to attack each other’s commercial ships in accordance with international maritime law, said David Harland, executive director of the Center for Humanitarian Dialogue.
“I think the best thing about the grain deal is that Russia and Ukraine did something that benefited hundreds of millions of hungry people around the world,” Harland said.
He noted that Russia is one of the largest grain exporters in the world, Ukraine is not on such a scale, but is also a major exporter.
«In my opinion, the situation has changed and a different type of agreement is probably needed now, but I think it's really important that Russia and Ukraine were willing to do what they had to do to make sure that the grain reached as many people as possible. to the whole world,» he said.
«I think we are not going to go back to the old agreement, we will have to enter into a new type of agreement, but I am a little optimistic that they will agree to this because they agreed before,» he added. agency interlocutor.
Asked about what a new deal might look like, Harland said that «probably the main thing is just adherence to international maritime law, which states that commercial ships must be protected from military attack.» “So I think even if they can’t agree on anything more, even on this basic issue, it would be good if Russia agreed not to attack Ukrainian commercial ships in the Black Sea, and Ukraine agreed not to attack Russian commercial ships in the Black Sea «,» Harland noted.
According to him, «this is also very important for Turkey, because Turkey receives economic and strategic benefits from free trade.»
“Although everything is very complicated between Moscow and Kiev, I hope that, at least in the interests of all the people in the world who eat their food, they will agree on this,” he concluded.
The Black Sea Initiative, which was signed by representatives of Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the UN on July 22, 2022, envisaged the export of Ukrainian grain and food, as well as fertilizers across the Black Sea from three ports, including Odessa. The grain deal ceased on July 18, when the Russian Federation notified Turkey, Ukraine and the UN of its objection to its extension. Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that the terms of the deal regarding Russia were not fulfilled, despite the efforts of the UN, because Western countries were not going to fulfill their promises. Putin has repeatedly pointed out that the West exported most of Ukrainian grain to its own states, and the main goal of the deal — supplying grain to countries in need, including African ones — was never realized.
The grain initiative is an integral part of the package agreement. The second part — the Russia-UN memorandum, designed for three years — provides for the unblocking of Russian exports of food and fertilizers, among the main tasks were the reconnection of Rosselkhozbank to SWIFT, the resumption of supplies of agricultural machinery, spare parts and service, the restoration of the Tolyatti — Odessa ammonia pipeline and a number of other measures. As Moscow has repeatedly noted, this part of the package agreement was not implemented.