Russia continues to commit "clear violations" – US State Department on Black Sea Grain Initiative
The US State Department sees "clear violations" of the Black Sea Grain Initiative by Russia, which is trying to obstruct maritime traffic with Ukrainian grain in one of the seaports covered by the agreement.
Source: Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform, citing Matthew Miller, spokesperson for US State Department, during a press briefing in Washington
Quote: "Russia continues to obstruct the normal operations of this lifesaving initiative".
Details: He noted that this is not something new, because Russia began to complain and openly obstruct it as soon as the ink was dry on the first grain deal.
"We should be very clear about what happened here. The parties agreed to enable unimpeded exports of Ukrainian food from three ports. Now Russia is refusing to allow ships to one of those three. It is a clear violation of their commitments under the Black Sea Grain Initiative," Miller said
He stressed that such obstruction by Russia and threats to withdraw from the agreement threaten to increase global food prices and reduce food availability for countries that need it most.
"We once again call on Russia to stop holding global food supplies hostage," said the spokesman for the US State Department.
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