U.S. administration eyeing various options to unlock Ukrainian grain exports - Taylor

That’s according to William Taylor, Vice President of the U.S. Institute of Peace and a former charge d’affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine.

Taylor told an Ukrinform correspondent in Washington he was aware that Joe Biden’s administration is “considering answers to these questions.”

“They are working on this right now. I’m absolutely sure,” Taylor said.

He noted that various options are under consideration.

“The United Nations can play a role and get some agreements on corridors and ways to get through the Black Sea. The United Nations can have negotiations with those nations in the Black Sea like Turkey, like Romania, that can provide these corridors to get through the Black Sea to get that grain out from Odesa,” said William Taylor.

In this regard, he stressed the need to resolve a range of issues, including demining the sea, as well as to push back Russian warships for the safe passage of civilian cargo ships.

As for the possibility of resolving the issue through the UN Security Council, Taylor agreed that the Security Council option may not work out in this situation, as Russia, being a permanent member with a veto right, would be able to block any decision. However, according to the expert, such a position of the Russians at the UN will clearly show the entire international community that Moscow is creating a global food security crisis, which the Kremlin would like to avoid.

"We should try it. If the UN doesn't work, we can go in another way,” admitted Taylor.

According to him, one of the opportunities for this mission may be setting up international convoys of warships to protect civilian navigation – something that the U.S. government is also considering among the options.

He stressed that Ukrainian grain export blockage is a humanitarian issue on a global scale.

“This is a global issue, this is not just Ukrainian or Russian, this is a global issue. And so the whole globe needs to get involved and many nations can provide ships to provide that kind of corridor,” Taylor said.

As Ukrinform reported, Russia has blocked all ports and trade routes through which Ukrainian grain was exported worldwide. About 20 million tonnes of grain remain stuck in Ukraine.