NOURNEWS- On July 22, 2022, Turkey, Ukraine, Russia, and the UN signed a document in regards to the "safe transfer of grain and food from Ukrainian ports" in Istanbul, with the mediation of Ankara.
According to this agreement, the control of the ports of "Odesa", "Chornomorsk " and "Yuzhne " which are the three most important ports of Ukraine and the main places for exporting grain, are under control of the Ukrainian side.
In addition, no ships other than those carrying food products and fertilizers will be allowed to enter these ports.
Russia and Ukraine supply nearly a third of the world's wheat, while Russia is the main exporter of chemical fertilizers and Ukraine is the world's largest exporter of corn and sunflower oil.
This agreement was extended several times until Monday, July 17, 2023, " Dmitry Peskov ", the Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation and Kremlin’s spokesperson, announced the termination and non-renewal of the agreement on the export of grains from Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea.
Peskov said during a press conference in the Kremlin: "The contract for the export of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea ends today, and this agreement is practically terminated for Russia."
According to "Sputnik" news agency, he of course stated: "Russia will immediately return to it after fulfilling its demands under the grain export agreement."
The suspension of this agreement has taken place while, according to the statistics provided by the UN itself, 783 million people around the world were facing hunger last year, which has increased by 122 million people in comparison to 2019.
Considering that Russia and Ukraine are considered the world's largest grain producers, the suspension of this agreement can have many humanitarian consequences around the world.
In this regard, there are several important points:
First; Although the Russians signed this agreement within the framework of humanitarian approaches and insisted on its implementation, the second part of this agreement, namely the provision of services to the Russians, was not implemented and the West practically had no commitment to this agreement.
This case became so grave and important that, the President of Russia Vladimir Putin has said in a phone call with his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, that the obstacles for Russian exports based on the Black Sea grain transportation agreement still exist.
Putin emphasized that the commitments signed between Russia and the UN to remove the existing obstacles for the export of Russian food and mineral fertilizers have not yet been fulfilled.
Before him, Deputy Prime Minister Viktoria Abramchenko also said; This deal consists of two parts, the first part of which is the unhindered export of Kyiv agricultural products through Ukrainian ports, but in the second part, none of the commitments promised and agreed on by the Western side to connect the Agricultural Bank of Russia to SWIFT and remove all logistics restrictions and insurance for the Russian shipments were not were achieved.
This Russian official added: There were promises and the negotiation process was quite active, but unfortunately, it has not yielded any results. The Western countries has not only failed to fulfill their obligations in regards to the Istanbul Agreement, but by sending weapons to Kyiv and fueling the flames of war, the West has fueled the food crisis in the world and has practically pushed Russia to suspend the Istanbul Agreement.
in other words; By not fulfilling its obligations under the Istanbul Agreement, as well as continuing to support Ukraine with weapons and prevention of the implementation of the peace process, the Western countries has created the basis for the escalation of the food crisis in the world, which has endangered the lives of hundreds of millions of people.
Second; According to the UN, the Istanbul Grain Agreement was a measure to support poor countries and prevent human catastrophe in the world, but the West has practically refused to implement this commitment.
A study conducted by the UN’s Data Agency shows that EU countries were the main recipients of Ukrainian agricultural products based on the grain contract.
According to these data, the EU has received a total of 12.4 million tons of these products or 38% of the total supply under the grain contract, while the poorest countries according to the UN classification including Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia, and Sudan and Ethiopia, in the entire period of the agreement, they just received 768 thousand tons of agricultural products equivalent to 2.3 percent of this agreement.
Also, according to the announcement of the Ministry of Defense of Turkey, the agreement related to the export of grain from Ukrainian ports has benefited the European countries rather than benefiting the countries in needs, and the European countries receive 44% of the grain exported through the grain agreement between Russia and Ukraine. But the share of African countries was only 14%.
On the other hand; Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, said after the State of the Eu in Strasbourg: Today, 30 percent of Ukraine's grain exports go to low- and middle-income countries in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.
Accordingly; Putin told to his South African counterpart that the main purpose of this deal, which is to send grain to countries in need, including African countries, has not been implemented.
All of these developments and positions express the fact that the West has not taken action not only towards Russia but also in implementing its humanitarian obligations, and in addition to warmongering, sanctions that have caused humanitarian disasters in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, etc. The past one year has marked another dimension of genocide and crimes against humanity with non-commitment to the Istanbul agreement.
BY: Mohammad Ghaderi
NOURNEWS