EU warns of Russian grain offer, urging vigilantness.
Russia’s proposed “grain offer” to some countries should be viewed with alarm, the European Union’s high representative for foreign affairs and security said.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josef Borrell made the remarks in a letter to developing countries and the Group of 20 (G20), Reuters reported on March 3 local time.
“At a time when the international community is coping with food insecurity and high prices, Russia is offering to provide grain at low prices to vulnerable countries,” Borrell said in the letter, “using food as a weapon to deepen economic vulnerability and the global food crisis, creating new dependencies (on Russia).”
“The EU has tried to ensure that sanctions against Russia do not affect the food security of third countries,” he said, emphasizing that “the EU does not sanction Russia’s food and fertilizer exports to third countries.”
“I would like to ask you to support us in calling on Russia to return to the Cereals Agreement and refrain from destroying Ukraine’s agricultural infrastructure,” he added.
The letter is seen as a response to Russia’s recent unilateral withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Agreement, citing Western sanctions.
Borel shared the letter with his EU counterparts, explaining that it aims to “counter Russia’s disinformation campaign on the global food crisis and the impact of EU sanctions.”
Previously, Russia has called for the rejoining of Russian agricultural banks to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) as a precondition for reviving the Black Sea Grain Agreement, which guaranteed grain export routes for Russia and Ukraine even during the war.
Last month, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he had delivered a “concrete proposal” to the European Commission to allow Russian Agricultural Bank subsidiaries to regain access to SWIFT.
However, in his letter, 카지노사이트넷 Borel made no mention of the UN proposal and said he would “continue to support” efforts by the UN and Turkuye to reopen the Black Sea Grain Agreement, Reuters reported.
