EU asks Russia to renew Black Sea grain deal

After Russia pulled out of the accord last month, a top European Union official urged Russia on Saturday to renew a grain pact to allow the secure transport of Ukrainian grain through Black Sea ports. According to Valdis Dombrovskis, executive vice president of the European Commission, Russian limitations on the shipping of grains from Ukraine across the Black Sea were problematic for several developing nations in addition to Kyiv. Dombrovskis, who is in India for a conference of the G20 trade ministers, claimed that Russia is using “grain as a weapon”. “We support all efforts by United Nations, by Turkey on Black Sea grain initiative,” he told reporters, adding the bloc was providing alternative trading routes, also called solidarity lanes, to Ukraine for grain and other exports. Since the agreement’s expiration last month, which was mediated by Ankara and the UN, Turkey has been attempting to persuade Moscow to renew it. On Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov informed United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that Moscow will only rejoin the agreement if the West upholds its duties to Moscow. Approximately 45 million tonnes of grain, oil seeds, and allied items have been exported through alternate routes via Poland and Romania since the Black Sea agreement expired, providing an essential lifeline to Ukraine, according to Dombrovskis. The European Union is supporting Ukraine through defence, financial and other aid, aiming to throw “Russian troops beyond international borders of Ukraine,” he said. According to Dombrovskis, the bloc is concerned that some nations, such as China and India, have not endorsed the Western sanctions against Russia. EU representatives brought up the subject of shipments of refined oil made from Russian crude oil processed by India during bilateral discussions between India and EU authorities, which partially negated the goal of the sanctions, he noted. He added that this was unlikely to influence existing discussions over a potential free trade agreement between the EU and India. (With agency inputs)