President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskiy stated that he sent a letter with Turkey to the United Nations (UN) with the offer to continue the Black Sea Grain Corridor Agreement without Russia, and said, “Ukraine, the UN and Turkey can ensure the operation of the food corridor and the inspection of the ships.” said.
Zelenskiy made statements on the grain shipment agreement signed in Istanbul on July 22, 2022 between Turkey, Ukraine, Russia and the UN on the Telegram channel.
Sharing the information that approximately 33 million tons of agricultural products were sent to 45 countries within the scope of this agreement, Zelenskiy said, “60 percent of this went to African and Asian countries, mainly Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan. Agricultural products also went to China. “Our shipments have been sent to India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen. Our shipments help save the lives of people of different religions and ethnicities in countries such as Yemen and Somalia, and this is very important. These people have the right to continue their lives.” he said.
Emphasizing that Africa, Asia and Europe have the right to stability, Zelenskiy said, “We all need to think about safety and protection from Russia’s madness. Ukraine’s food products are the basic security of approximately 400 million people.” made its assessment.
Zelensky said:
“The Black Sea Grain Initiative can and should continue to operate without Russia. This agreement remains valid. All that remains is the careful implementation of this agreement. “I sent letters with proposals to work on the concept, which is the equivalent of the agreement in triple format. Ukraine, the UN and Turkey can together ensure the operation of the food corridor and the inspection of ships.”
Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitriy Peskov stated that the Black Sea Grain Corridor Agreement was halted and that Russia would return to the agreement when the relevant conditions were implemented.
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also announced that they would return to the agreement if the West stopped imposing sanctions on Russian food and fertilizers. (AA)