EU urges Russia to extend ‘grain deal’

The European Union has urged Russia to renew the grain agreement and implement the UN Black Sea Grain Initiative in good faith.

The relevant statement was made by the EU at a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna on November 10, 2022, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

“We urge Russia to renew the agreement beyond its current period ending on 19 November and we call on Russia to implement the UN Black Sea Grain Initiative in good faith. The EU and its Member States will continue to respond to the global food security crisis and support timely and stable delivery of Ukrainian agricultural products to global markets,” the statement reads.

According to the EU, food and hunger should never be used as a weapon of war.

“Yet, Russia has deliberately exacerbated the global food security crisis by destroying or looting Ukrainian stocks of grain, disrupting production, imposing quota restrictions on its own export of foodstuff and fertilisers, and had imposed a blockade of Ukrainian seaports. In this vein, the Black Sea Grain Initiative is key to get food to the world’s most vulnerable,” the EU noted.

A reminder that the agreement on Ukraine’s grain exports via the Black Sea was signed between Ukraine, Turkey and the UN, and Russia, Turkey and the UN for a period of 180 days on July 22, 2022.

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