UNITED NATIONS/BRUSSELS, July 25 (Reuters) – Britain warned on Tuesday it had information indicating Russia’s military could start targeting civilian shipping in the Black Sea, while the European Union pledged to help Ukraine export almost all of its agricultural products by rail and road.
World wheat prices soared 15% last week after Russia backed out of a deal allowing the safe export of grain from Ukraine to the Black Sea for a year and began targeting Ukrainian ports and grain infrastructure on the Black Sea and Danube river.
“Our information indicates that the Russian armed forces may further expand their attacks on Ukrainian grain facilities, to include attacks on civilian shipping in the Black Sea,” British Ambassador to the UN Barbara Woodward said on Tuesday.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak shared the information with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy during a phone call on Tuesday, Woodward told reporters. Britain also had information that “Russia has placed additional sea mines on the approaches to Ukrainian ports,” he said.
“We agree with the US assessment that this is a coordinated effort to justify and blame Ukraine for any attacks on civilian ships in the Black Sea,” Woodward said.
Russia’s mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
He The White House gave similar warnings last week about possible Russian attacks on civilian ships and sea mines.
The Black Sea grain deal was negotiated by the UN and Turkey a year ago to combat a global food crisis made worse by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Ukraine and Russia are the top grain exporters.
Russia withdrew last week, saying demands to improve its own food and fertilizer exports had not been met and complaining that not enough Ukrainian grain had reached poor countries under the deal. The UN has argued that the pact benefited the poorest countries by reducing global prices by 23% since March 2022.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is due to receive African leaders in St Petersburg on Thursday and Friday and has promised free Russian grain. “to replace the Ukrainian grain.” The UN said the most vulnerable will pay the ultimate price for Moscow’s decision to terminate the Black Sea deal.
Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yury Ushakov told Russian media on Tuesday that 17 African leaders would speak.
‘SOLIDARITY LANES’ OF THE EU
The European Union said on Tuesday that it is ready to export almost all agricultural products from Ukraine through road and rail “solidarity lanes” through neighboring EU countries and help cover transportation costs.
“We are ready to export almost everything. This is about four million tons per month of oilseeds and grains and we reached this volume in November last year,” EU agriculture commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski said.
Wojciechowski said the EU was looking to come up with a joint plan to cover the additional transport costs.
The expansion of grain transit through the EU is sensitive for Poland and some countries bordering Ukraine, where farmers have come under pressure from rising Ukrainian imports.
In May, the EU allowed five countries close to Ukraine – Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia – to ban domestic sales of Ukrainian wheat, corn and oilseeds until September 15, while allowing transit through them for further export.
The EU will review the ban after several countries pushed for an extension beyond September 15.
Poland’s Agriculture Minister Robert Telus told reporters on Tuesday that he wanted a flexible ban, explaining as an example that Poland wanted to ban raspberries but would allow sunflower seeds.
“There is no way after September 15 grain from Ukraine will enter Poland,” Telus said. “We have plenty of grain, grain prices are already low today…it would completely destabilize our market.”
EU member Lithuania has asked the European Commission to develop a route for Ukrainian grain through five ports in the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, according to a letter seen by Reuters. The five ports have a combined grain export capacity of 25 million tons, the letter says.
The railways in Ukraine and the Baltic States are built on Russian-type gauge, which is incompatible with the gauge used in Poland, the only practical route between the countries.
USAID chief Samantha Power said Tuesday that Washington would seek to invest in additional grain storage for Ukraine so that crops that might have been shipped across the Black Sea do not rot while waiting to be exported to global markets.
Reporting by Michelle Nichols at the United Nations and Julia Payne in Brussels; Additional reporting by Geert De Clercq in Paris, Andrius Sytas in Vilnius, Michael Hogan in Hamburg, and Daphne Psaledakis in Washington; Written by Michelle Nichols; Edited by Nick Macfie and Grant McCool
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