Russia Requests UN to Provide Statistics on Final Recipients of Ukrainian Grain - Lavrov

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th October, 2022) Russia has requested the United Nations Secretariat provide statistics on the final recipients of the grain exported from Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday.

On July 22, Russia, Ukraine, and Turkey signed a UN-brokered initiative to provide a humanitarian maritime corridor for ships with food and fertilizer exports from Ukrainian Black Sea ports. However, Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said that most of the ships carrying Ukrainian grain under the deal did not reach the world's poorest countries and ended up in Europe.

According to Lavrov, European countries confirmed that they received most of Ukraine's grain but said that it was then distributed all over the world, including to the poorest countries.

"We would like to have a clearer picture, so we asked the UN Secretariat, which is in charge of this operation and has all the data, to provide statistics on the movement of grain to its final destination, where the final consumer is located.

This is not mere curiosity; The adjustment and redirection of further actions taken to implement this grain deal depend on it," Lavrov said after a meeting with Islamic Cooperation Secretary General Hissein Brahim Taha.

The minister noted that the part of the deal covering increases in exports of Russian fertilizers and grain was not working in practice, as there were still neither clear exceptions to restrictions against Russian companies nor guarantees of free entry for Russian vessels to European ports. A UN Secretariat spokesman said last week that the organization was working tirelessly to remove these restrictions.