Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday (2) that he will suspend Ukraine’s grain export agreement again if the neighboring country violates the written guarantees it will not use the corridor. humanitarian aid and Ukrainian ports for military purposes.
The statement was given hours after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that Russia had given the green light for the reactivation of the agreement.
“I have instructed the Ministry of Defense to resume our full participation in this work. At the same time, Russia reserves the right to withdraw from this agreement if Ukraine violates these guarantees,” Putin said, at the start of a virtual meeting of the Russian Security Council.
Putin highlighted that Turkey acted as a mediator, after Russia suspended, in October 29 the grain export agreement signed in July of this year, in a pact supported by Ankara and the UN.
Earlier, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that it had received “assurances from Ukraine that the humanitarian corridor would not be used for military purposes.”
This was one of Russia’s demands to resume participation in the pact, which would expire in November 19, and whose extension Moscow is still studying, along with the exhaustive investigation of Ukraine’s alleged attack against the Russian fleet in the Black Sea, in Sevastopol, with naval drones.
Turkey had asked Putin to separate the two issues, considering it important to return to the agreement, to prevent a major food crisis in the world.
The President of Russia has assured that he will not interfere in the grain supply from Ukraine to Turkey.
“We will not interfere in the future, in any way, with the supply of cereals from the territory of Ukraine to the Republic of Turkey”, assured Putin.
The head of state highlighted Turkish neutrality as aspects that favor this Russian posture. in the Ukrainian war, the capabilities of the Turkish grain processing industry and Erdogan’s efforts to secure the interests of the poorest countries.
Putin also claimed that Russia, including in the event of a withdrawal of the new agreement, is prepared to supply grain to the countries most in need.
“In any case, even if Russia withdraws from this agreement, we, as we said earlier, will be ready to provide free the entire volume of grain that was delivered from the territory of Ukraine to the poorest countries”, he indicated.
Putin again criticized the agreement, saying that only 4% of Ukrainian grain exported from the pact reaches the most needy nations
“The agreement was made under the pretext of guarantee the food security interests of the countries, but only 4% went from the territory of Ukraine to the poorest countries. The rest ended up in European Union countries,” he said.