Ukraine/Cereals-After the Russian blockade, Paris wants to increase land exports – 10/31/2022 at 09:23
PARIS, Oct 31 (Reuters) – France and the European Union will work to speed up Ukrainian grain exports by land, after Russia announced on Saturday it was withdrawing from the deal on exports from ports Black Sea Ukrainians, French Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau said on Monday.
The work of the Europeans, “is to ensure that if it cannot go through the Black Sea, it goes through the land routes”, in order to “ensure that those who need cereals capable of having some prices that are reasonable”, he explained on RMC.
“What we are going to do is continue to activate a device that does not put us in the hands and in the good will – in this case the bad will – of Vladimir Putin, who opens and closes the Black Sea at according to his mood or according to his geopolitical interests”, continued the minister.
This work comes in the wake of a cooperation agreement signed in mid-September between France and Romania to facilitate the export of Ukrainian cereals by land.
Russia informed the United Nations on Saturday of the suspension of its participation in the cereal agreement concluded last July in Istanbul between Kyiv and Moscow, under the aegis of the UN and Turkey, denouncing attacks targeting buildings of its navy in Crimea.
Ukraine said Russia used a pretext to justify a planned disengagement, while the United States blamed Moscow for using food as a weapon of war.
“Vladimir Putin, he uses food as a weapon to exert pressure in terms of geopolitics”, also considered Marc Fesneau on Monday.
This decision will not have “a direct impact for the French” but “the greatest concern” concerns third countries outside the European Union “which depend for food on the export of Ukrainian wheat”.
(Writing by Myriam Rivet, editing by Kate Entringer)