Daria Zarivna, an adviser to the Ukrainian head of state, said on Monday that the grain export agreement should be open-ended, arguing that Ukraine guarantees food to “400 million people around the world.”
“The agreement should be extended. It should be for an indefinite period, because Ukraine is the guarantor of food security for 400 million people around the world,” Zarivna said, quoted by the Ukrinform agency.
“During the term of the grain agreement, Ukraine has exported about 23 million tons of food. From our side, we have agreements with the UN and Turkey in a transparent, clear and understandable form,” the adviser said.
In the same statement, Daria Zarivna accuses Russia of “doing everything” to avoid extending the export agreement.
Zarivna stressed that Russia is taking an obstructionist stance in order to “eliminate a competitor on the world market” and “weaken the Ukrainian economy.”
Ukraine, the UN and Turkey agreed with Moscow on November 17 last year to extend the agreement on the Initiative for the Safe Transport of Agricultural Products across the Black Sea for a period of 120 days.
The beginning of the pact took place on June 22, 2022, when on August 1 the first ship with Ukrainian grain left the port of Odessa on the Black Sea.
The current agreement is valid until March 18, when the extension must be formalized by both parties, but there are no full guarantees regarding the extension of the pact yet.
The transportation of grains and other Ukrainian agricultural products was heavily affected by the Russian military invasion that began in February last year.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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