On July 17, Russian President Vladimir Putin withdrew from the Black Sea Grain initiative, which enabled Ukraine to ship its agricultural products unmolested through its Black Sea ports. As part of the deal, United Nations officials agreed to help Russia with its own food and fertilizer exports. In justifying his decision, Putin claimed that the West reneged on this pledge.
But there is a problem with Russia’s argument, said James O’Brien, Head of the State Department’s Sanctions Office. “Russia is exporting record amounts of grain. This past year, the Russian grain association said that the exports had reached 61.8 million tons of grain, which I believe is 10 to 15 percent higher than any year before. So if the measurement is food for the globe, then the process we are undertaking with the UN and with Türkiye to help Russia export is working, and Russia’s complaints amount to minor allegations about a system that is working very well.”
Additionally, “Russia makes comments about sanctions,” said Ambassador O’Brien. “I have to emphasize the U.S. has no sanctions on Russian food and fertilizer.”
So, what’s really going on? Ambassador O’Brien proposes that “The goal is to reduce the amount of food and fertilizer available so that prices go up and Russia gets attention to some of its demands."
About 10 percent of certain kinds of grains entered the global market from Ukraine. It also delivered as much as half of the food the World Food Program provided for the world’s poorest countries. After Russia invaded Ukraine, those exports stopped, and prices increased. But with the signing of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, prices dropped again. “So that was the situation when Russia decided to do two things,” said Ambassador O’Brien.
“It terminated the Black Sea Grain Initiative, announced a blockade of shipping out of the Ukrainian ports, said that it would regard any ship going in and out of Ukraine as a subject of military action, and it also began to bombard the food storage facilities,” he said.
“So that’s what Russia is doing, and a consequence is not just the reduction in quantity of food, but prices have jumped substantially,” said Ambassador O’Brien. Nonetheless, he said, “I’m optimistic that Ukrainian grain will reach global markets. It will take us some time. It’s going to involve some costs, but we cannot allow Russia to have a stranglehold over the Black Sea.”
