White House: No indication grain deal is 'falling apart'
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The Biden administration thinks no signs seem to be hampering the grain deal despite that rich countries receive more grain than poor countries.
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White House: No indication Grain deal is ‘falling apart’
White House Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby said on Thursday that the US sees no signs that the grain deal between Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, and the UN is falling apart.
"We believe that this deal brokered by the UN and Turkey is important… We’re going to continue to work with allies and partners to make sure it persists," Kirby said during a press briefing. "Do we see [the deal] falling apart? We see no indications that it’s falling apart now, and it is in fact having the intended effect."
On July 22, Russia, Ukraine, and Turkey signed the grain deal to provide a humanitarian maritime corridor for ships to carry food and fertilizers from the Black Sea ports. Three key Ukrainian ports — Odessa, Chornomorsk, and Yuzhne — were unblocked to resume exports.
Since the agreement has been put into effect, Ukraine has shipped one million tonnes of foodstuff from its three Black Sea ports under the UN-backed grain deal, according to Ukrainian media outlets.
Earlier on Thursday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, "We want grain shipments from Russia to start as well, we expect this."
Erdogan said Russian President Vladimir Putin is "right" that Ukrainian grain is more, "unfortunately", directed toward rich countries rather than poorer countries.
He added that he expects to discuss the implementation of the UN-brokered grain agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting in Samarkand next week.
Read more: Ukraine sending grain to EU, not developing nations: Putin
