Zelenskyy offers Turkey and UN to keep grain deal going without Russia

He said this in his evening address on July 17.

The President emphasizes that the work of the initiative in a tripartite format is the most reliable.

"Ukraine, the UN and Türkiye can jointly ensure the operation of the food corridor and the inspection of vessels. It is necessary for everyone in the world – and everyone who supports it will become a savior of life in a huge territory from Morocco to China, from Indonesia to Lebanon," he says. 

Zelenskyy also stated that Ukraine's position is that "no one has the right to destroy the food security of any nation."

"If a bunch of people somewhere in the Kremlin think that they supposedly have the right to decide whether food will be on the table in different countries: Egypt or Sudan, Yemen or Bangladesh, China or India, Türkiye or Indonesia... then the world has an opportunity to show that blackmail is not allowed to anyone," Zelenskyy stated.

Zelenskyy reminded that Ukrainian food is basic security for 400 million people and said that over the past year, within the framework of the initiative, almost 33 million tons of agricultural products were exported to 45 countries of the world, of which 60% went to African and Asian countries.

"And it is very important – our food export allows saving lives in the countries, as I said, like Yemen and Somalia... different people... of different religions, different ethnic origins... But they all have the same right to life!" he adds.

At 11:32 p.m., Zelenskyy announced that he had already had a conversation with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

Earlier, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that it is necessary to continue using the grain corridor even if Russia withdraws from the agreement, as ship owners are ready to do so.

"We have been approached by companies that own ships. They said that they are ready to continue grain supplies if Ukraine lets them go and Turkey lets them through," the spokesman quoted Zelenskyy as saying.

The president explained that there were two separate agreements: Ukraine-Turkey-UN and Russia-Turkey-UN.

"Therefore, when Russia says it is stopping, it is breaking its agreements with UN Secretary General Guterres and President Erdogan. Not with us. We had no agreements with them," Zelenskyy added.

The Ukrainian leader said that he had ordered the Foreign Ministry to prepare official signals to the UN and Turkey to answer whether they were ready to continue the grain initiative.

What is known about the grain deal

The agreement, known as the Black Sea Grain Initiative, was concluded between Russia and Ukraine with the mediation of the UN and Turkey in July 2022 in Istanbul. It has since been extended several times.

In January, the Ministry of Infrastructure said that as a result of Russian actions in the Bosphorus, the world loses millions of tons of Ukrainian food every month. The occupiers are hampering the inspection of ships that export grain to third world countries.

In March 2023, the Russian Federation informed the parties that the agreement would be extended for only 60 days instead of 120. These agreements were due to expire on May 18.

To extend it, the Russians demanded:

• reconnecting Rosselkhozbank to SWIFT

• resumption of supply of agricultural machinery, spare parts and service

• lifting restrictions on insurance and reinsurance plus lifting the ban on access to ports

• resumption of the Togliatti-Odesa ammonia pipeline

• unblocking foreign assets and accounts of Russian companies related to the production and transportation of food and fertilizers.

On May 17, the grain deal was extended for 60 days. The Russians' demands were not met.

Doubts about the continuation of the grain deal were also voiced in the UK on July 4.

On June 5, the Russian Federation said it saw no prospects for extending the agreement in July, and on June 22, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said it did not see the Russians' readiness to continue the grain initiative.

On June 23, Ukraine announced it would participate in the construction of a grain terminal in Nigeria.

On July 5, the UN announced its readiness to send a representative to Moscow to "save the grain deal."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on July 8 that his country is working on extending the grain deal for two years.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has offered Russian President Putin to extend the grain deal in exchange for reconnecting Rosselkhozbank to SWIFT. The Kremlin had demanded this earlier

On July 12, Turkey’s Erdogan said that he had received proposals from Putin to extend the grain deal.

Ukraine is looking for alternative ways to supply grain to Africa, Europe and Asia.

 On July 13, Putin said Russia will extend the grain deal when its demands are met. 

On July 17, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced the actual termination of the grain deal. At the same time, Turkish President Recep Erdogan announced his intention to discuss the extension of the grain deal with Putin.