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2023-07-20 Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
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Western media assesses Russia's withdrawal from the grain deal
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Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Oleg Krivoshapov
[REGNUM] Most of the leading Western mass media painted Russia's refusal to further participate in the grain deal in undeniably negative tones. Which can hardly be called a surprise, given the steady anti-Russian orientation that became mainstream for them long before February 24, 2022.
The assessments of the reasons, circumstances and consequences of Moscow’s withdrawal from the multilateral “Black Sea Initiative” are based on mostly familiar constructions – formulas about “Russia’s war in Ukraine” (Associated Press, The Guardian, The Washington Post), which have become the mantra of accusations of “illegal annexation of Crimea” (The Washington Post), and accusations that Russia is trying to circumvent Western sanctions.
Naturally, without the memories of the Minsk agreements, which, as is now known, were used by the Western curators of the Kiev regime solely to prepare for full-scale military operations against Russia. Of course, without mentioning the decision of the International Court of Justice, which did not support Ukraine's statement on the "occupation" of Crimea.
But Reuters, among other things, drew attention to the fact that "Russia struck a blow at the grain port of Ukraine after withdrawing from the export deal."
Commenting on the Russian position in general, the agency noted: “Russia says it may return to the grain deal, but only if its demands to simplify rules for its own food and fertilizer exports are met.
Western countries are calling it an attempt to leverage food supplies to ease financial sanctions that already include exemptions allowing Russia to sell food.”
AND WHO ARE THE JUDGES?
In assessing Russia's withdrawal from the grain deal, the Western media focused mainly on the statements of obviously anti-Russian officials of Ukraine, the United States and Great Britain, as well as the heads of individual international institutions and "think tanks" dependent on the political mainstream of the collective West.
Again, as expected, they expressed neither gratitude to Russia for a whole year of intensive export of grain from Ukrainian ports (deliveries, as noted by Bloomberg and Politico , amounted to 33 million tons), nor regrets about the fact that during the transaction the prescribed in her interests of Russia.
The Guardian reported that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke about resuming the deal with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres , who, in turn, as noted by Reuters, also criticized Russia, saying that its decision "would harm all people in need."
The British newspaper also quoted the White House, which believes that the Russian position "worse food security and harm millions" , and British Foreign Secretary James Cleverley , who accused Russia of allegedly "hindering the proper implementation of the deal for several months" , "serves its own interests" and "disregards the needs of all people around the world, including those in the poorest countries who pay higher food prices as a result."
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called Russia's move "cynical" on her Twitter account, Bloomberg and the Washington Post noted . European Council President Charles Michel said millions benefited from the agreement and Russia's decision would "jeopardize food security" and access to grain and fertilizer supplies around the world.
In turn, the Associated Press agency referred to the assessment of the American non-profit organization International Rescue Committee (International Rescue Committee), which called the grain deal "a lifeline for 79 countries and 349 million people."
And the director of the Africa Program at the International Crisis Group, Muriti Mutiga, was quoted by The Guardian as saying: “The impact of the collapse of the African grain deal would be significant… the effect of the deal was to stabilize global supply and keep prices relatively stable.
Many countries on the continent are facing double-digit inflation, and some, such as Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana, have already gone through protests against rising food and fuel prices. If this deal cannot be reopened and prices continue to rise as a consequence, it will exacerbate the economic crisis that many countries are facing, which in turn could trigger new unrest.”
WHERE DID THE GRAIN GO?
At the same time, the interlocutor of The Guardian admitted that during the implementation of the deal, "a significant part of the grain did not get to poorer countries, as the UN originally assumed." However, the publication did not begin to develop the idea that Ukrainian grain mostly ended up not in the most needy countries, but just in the prosperous countries of the West.
But Bloomberg noted that "the closure of this corridor will harm key buyers such as China, Spain and Egypt." Note that we are not talking about the poorest countries in Africa like Kenya or Ghana, nor about Yemen, nor about Afghanistan.
Indeed, judging by the visual information provided by the French France Presse, the poorest African countries are far from the largest recipients of the “grain deal.”
And judging by the reaction of the largest Chinese news agency Xinhua, the PRC is not particularly worried about the risks to its food security. Although the Chinese Foreign Ministry expressed hope that the agreement will continue to be implemented in full.
At the same time, it seems that the aforementioned American publication Politico is much more concerned about China's problems in this regard , stating that "China is one of the largest beneficiaries of the Black Sea grain deal."
Recall that the Russian side has repeatedly criticized the practical implementation of the grain deal. On July 4, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that there were no grounds for a new extension of the deal, since it had turned into a purely commercial export of food from Ukraine to “well-fed” countries. And on July 13, Russian President Vladimir Putin allowed the suspension of Russia's participation in the deal due to the failure of its participants to fulfill Moscow's conditions, assuring that Russia would return to the deal as soon as the promises it had received earlier were fulfilled.
In turn, the UN Coordination Center admitted on July 15 that, as part of the agreements, not a single ship with Russian fertilizers was sent. At the same time, the poorest countries, as indicated by the organization, received under the deal only 10% of corn and 40% of wheat exported from Ukraine (90% of corn and 60% of wheat went to countries with high and above average incomes).
On July 17, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced that the country was suspending its participation in the grain deal.
More from regnum.ru
Putin called the conditions for Russia's return to the grain deal
Russian President Vladimir Putin, during a meeting with members of the government on July 19, listed the conditions under which the country can resume its participation in the grain deal.
Thus, the head of state recalled the figures indicating that Russia produces and supplies to the market much more grain than Ukraine, which the West is trying to present as the main world player in the grain market.
The President noted that the Russian part of the grain deal was never executed. In this regard, Russia has a number of conditions under which it will be ready to return to the agreement. Putin called the restoration of the very essence of the grain deal - the humanitarian component, the focus on helping the poorest countries - the basic condition. So far, the West has completely distorted the essence of this agreement.
“The first withdrawal from the sanctions is grain and fertilizers,” Putin said.
In addition, the Russian leader pointed to the need to remove all obstacles for agricultural producers and Russian banks that service supplies. In particular, it is necessary to immediately connect these credit and financial organizations to the SWIFT system.
“We do not need promises or ideas, the connection must be immediate,” he stressed.
Putin also said that the supply of spare parts and equipment for agricultural machinery should be resumed, ship insurance issues should be resolved and all logistics of supplies should be provided.
In addition, Russian fertilizers should also be brought to the market. To do this, it is necessary to provide all the conditions, including the restoration of the exploded ammonia pipeline. Putin recalled that the pipeline was destroyed on the order of the Kyiv regime, but neither the UN nor the Western countries reacted and did not give a proper assessment of Ukraine's actions.
In addition to the above, Putin called for the unblocking of Russian assets related to the agricultural sector.
“Russia will consider the possibility of returning to the grain deal if all the principles of its participation in it, without exception, are taken into account and implemented. Among them are the unblocking of Russian assets related to the agricultural sector and the resumption of the operation of the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline, etc. The West completely “emasculated and distorted” the initially humanitarian essence of the grain deal, making it a tool for enriching speculators. To resume the grain deal, you need to return its humanitarian essence. Russia will immediately return to the grain deal if all its conditions are met, ”the president added.
On July 17 , the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that Russia would not extend the "Black Sea Initiative", since part of the agreements regarding the unblocking of Russian food and fertilizer exports and the connection of the Russian Agricultural Bank to SWIFT had not been fulfilled.
The department also stated that the Kiev regime used the ports controlled by it and the corridor opened by Russia not only to export Ukrainian grain, but also to carry out terrorist attacks.
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Posted by badanov 2023-07-20 00:00||
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