The U.N. and Canada urge Russia to revive the 'Black Sea Grain Initiative' with Ukraine

(Ramil Sitdikov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) and Facebook/ Vladymir Zelensky

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The U.N. chief is pleading with Russia to permit Ukrainian grain exports to depart Russian-held Black Sea ports, claiming those most hungry worldwide will continue to suffer.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addressed the collapse of the Ukraine-Russia grain deal during a three-day food summit in Rome, telling reports that "the most vulnerable will pay the highest price."

He lamented that this breakdown between the warring nations would stress global supply chains and hike wheat and corn prices. Since July 17, wheat prices have skyrocketed 14%, whereas corn prices rose more than 10%.

In his remarks, Guterres said Russia and Ukraine account for 30% of wheat and barley exports that are "essential to global food security." He noted they also export a fifth of all maize and over half of all sunflower oil.

"For my part, I remain committed to facilitating unimpeded access to global markets for food products and fertilizer from Ukraine and the Russian Federation and to deliver the food security every person deserves," said the U.N. head.

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"I call on the Russian Federation to return to the implementation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, in line with my latest proposal," he said while urging the international community to work together to resolve the issue.

Canada has since called on Moscow to resume grain exports to avoid "further shocks to global food systems."

Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly and International Development Minister Harjit Sajjan called Russia's withdrawal from the agreement a "de facto blockade."

"Canada strongly condemns the decision of the Russian Federation to withdraw its participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative brokered by the United Nations and Turkey as part of the Istanbul Agreements in July 2022," they said.

The deal allowed Ukraine to ship 32.8 million metric tons of grain, with over half going to developing nations on the brink of famine.

Should the accord be struck again, the U.N. will have 725,000 metric tons of food to disperse to Ethiopia, Afghanistan and Yemen.

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However, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said they have no intention of renewing the brokered grain deal until global sanctions are lifted on its food and fertilizer.

"When the part of the Black Sea deal related to Russia is implemented, Russia will immediately return to the implementation of the deal," he said.

Another key demand by Moscow is lifting global sanctions against the Russian agricultural bank Rosselkhozbank to the SWIFT international payment network. Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the European Union cut it off in June 2022.

Guterres outlined a proposal to Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this month, which includes allowing the U.S.-based bank JPMorgan Chase to process Russian food grain payments. 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov contends he has not heard of any such proposal. 

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The Canadian government said negating the initiative would send 100 million people worldwide into extreme poverty while lowering wheat, vegetable oil prices and other food commodities.

In July, the U.N. released its annual State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report, which unveiled that some 725 million people faced chronic hunger last year — up from 613 million in 2019.

"Updated projections show that almost 600 million people will be chronically undernourished in 2030…this is about 119 million more undernourished people than in a scenario in which neither the pandemic nor the war in Ukraine had occurred, and around 23 million more than in a scenario in which the war had not happened," the report said.

Russia's ally China has also expressed disapproval over the deal's suspension and Russia's bombardment of Black Sea ports, as they have received eight million metric tons of cargo since the global community brokered the initiative.

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