West unlikely to facilitate Russia grain exports under deal: Official
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A Turkish chancellor says the UN must do its best to prevent the grain deal from any kind of sanctions.
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Combines load wheat into trucks in a field during harvest near the village of Solyanoye in the Omsk region, Russia Sep. 8, 2022 (Reuters)
Western countries are unlikely to facilitate exports of Russian grain under the Black Sea grain deal, Cagri Erhan, a member of the Turkish Presidential Security and Foreign Policy Committee, told Sputnik.
Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused the West of "shamelessly burying" the grain deal, saying the exports of Russian agricultural products around the world are being blatantly hindered.
The Russian Mission to the United Nations previously stated the country's fertilizers have not been shipped and cannot enter places like Syria even in the form of humanitarian aid.
"Americans and their Western allies will continue to make it difficult for Russia for any kind of revenue gaining, including the grain deal," Erhan indicated.
"However in final analysis this is a humanitarian thing. So the United Nations must do their best to prevent the grain deal from any kind of sanctions. It is not similar to any other thing like oil exporting or weapon exporting. It is something human life is depending on," the Turkish official pointed out.
The counselor also noted that Ankara was doing its utmost to extend the deal, not only for Turkey's sake but also for countries in Africa that are fully dependent on Russian and Ukrainian grain and fertilizers.
Russia, Ukraine, and Turkey signed an UN-brokered agreement on July 22 to establish a humanitarian maritime corridor for ships transporting food and fertilizer from Ukrainian Black Sea ports, which was called the Black Sea Grain Initiative and is generally known as the Grain Deal.
The agreement originally set to expire on November 19, 2022, was renewed for another 120 days until March 18, unless it is extended once again.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Sunday during the 5th UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5) in Qatar that Turkey is mobilizing considerable efforts into extending the Grain deal to ensure the smooth and uninterrupted exports of grains through the Black Sea corridor.
Russia has repeatedly criticized the agreement for failing to ensure unimpeded exports of Russian grain and fertilizer amid Western sanctions.
On Friday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said, "It is obvious that the Americans and Europeans do not care about the countries in need and efforts of the UN, which they have long and stubbornly been trying to turn into an obedient tool for serving their political goals."
The Ministry pointed out in a statement that a great share of Ukrainian grain goes to the European Union, as opposed to the poorest countries.
The statement added that the deal is being implemented far from the agreed-upon humanitarian goals and only on the export of Ukranian food.
Read more: UN, Turkey awaiting Western guarantees to extend grain deal
