The grain agreement, in suspense: Russia demands that some requirements be met

Russia and Turkey are keeping the world on edge just hours after the grain deal expires. And it is that according to the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoganboth parties seemed to agree to prolong the pact, which allows the export of Ukrainian grain from the Black Sea.

However, the latest statements coming from Russia suggest that the president Vladimir Putin It requires that certain requirements be met. Moscow denounces that part of the agreement to unblock Russian exports of cereals and fertilizers is not being fulfilled in its entirety.

From the West they remember that the failure of this agreement would have “global consequences”.

“It is essential that we expand and extend the Black Sea Green Initiative, which Russia is threatening to end once again on July 18,” recalled the US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, at the ASEAN summit, in Indonesia. “If Moscow follows through on its threat, developing countries, including those in the region, will pay the price, including literally higher food prices as well as greater food shortages.”

Equally critical was the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyenwho recalled how Russia “has a responsibility to prolong the agreement, otherwise the consequence will be global food insecurity. The ball is in President Putin’s court, and the world is watching.”

From Russia, and through its Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, the answers remain anything but clear, and time is pressing. The objective of the agreement, signed a year ago under the mediation of the UN and Ankara, was and is none other than to avoid a world food crisis, since both Ukraine and Russia itself are two of the largest grain exporters in the world.