German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Wednesday that her country would support Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in finding an alternative export route for Ukrainian grain after Russia pulled out of the deal over a lack of progress on its demand
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th July, 2023) German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Wednesday that her country would support Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in finding an alternative export route for Ukrainian grain after Russia pulled out of the deal over a lack of progress on its demands.
"Even if the Black Sea route can hardly be replaced, we support Zelenskyy and Ukraine and will leave no stone unturned in the search for alternative transport routes. For example, via the EU Solidarity Lanes by barge, rail and road," she said on social media.
A senior EU official told media on Tuesday that the European Union was still working with international mediators to convince Russia to return to the Black Sea grain export deal. A parallel effort is underway to get more Ukrainian grain exported by land to EU member states, the official said.
Russia and Ukraine struck the Turkey- and UN-brokered package deal in July 2022 to provide a humanitarian maritime corridor for ships carrying food and fertilizer from Ukraine's Black Sea ports. Despite having since agreed to several extensions to the now expired deal, Moscow argued that the component on the facilitation of Russian grain and fertilizer exports had not been fulfilled.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that the pact was de facto terminated, however, Russia would immediately return to its implementation as soon as the commitments toward Moscow were fulfilled.
Ukraine and its EU donors insist that Ukrainian grain is vital to feeding the world's least developed countries, but UN data show that the largest share of Ukrainian grain exports ended up in the EU, while Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan and Ethiopia received slightly over 2% of the grain.
