US Envoy Complains Sanctions Fail to Halt Russian Exports

United Nations, March 18 – The US Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said at a meeting of the UN Security Council that the sanctions do not interfere with the export of Russian food and fertilizers.

Regarding sanctions against Russia, she said, the United States “has taken great pains to explain to governments and the private sector” clear exceptions to sanctions for food and fertilizer.

“Simply put, it’s not about sanctions,” she added.

Earlier, the Russian permanent representative to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzia, said that the United States, London and the European Union have two months to lift all sanctions that impede agricultural exports from the Russian Federation, and that the poorest countries receive only about 3% of supplies, not 65-66. % as part of a food package as stated in the Security Council.

The grocery (or grain) deal, signed on July 22, 2022 by representatives of Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Nations, involves the export of Ukrainian grain, food and fertilizer across the Black Sea from three ports, including Odessa. The Joint Coordination Center (JCC) in Istanbul is responsible for coordinating the movement of ships. The contract expired on November 18, 2022, but it means an automatic 120-day extension to March 18, if neither party objects. The Russian Foreign Ministry said that “there were no such objections,” noting at the same time that the Russian side allows a technical extension of the “Black Sea Initiative” to export Ukrainian grain without any changes in terms and scope.

The deal itself is an integral part of a comprehensive agreement, which provides for, among other things, the liberalization of Russian exports of food and fertilizers, and Moscow has indicated that this is exactly what has not been met. At the same time, there were assurances from the United Nations that restrictions would be lifted.