Uk To Help Alleviate Impact Of Black Sea Grain Deal Collapse

(MENAFN- Live Mint) "New Delhi: UK prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who is attending the G20 Leaders' Summit in India, will announce measures to alleviate the impact of the Russian blockade of Ukrainian grain supplies that has caused a global spike in food prices.“Once again, (Russian president) Vladimir Putin is failing to show his face at the G20. He is the architect of his own diplomatic exile, isolating himself in his presidential palace and blocking out criticism and reality. The rest of the G20, meanwhile, are demonstrating that we will turn up and work together to pick up the pieces of Putin's destruction,” the UK high commission quoted him as saying.“That starts with dealing with the terrible global consequences of Putin's stranglehold over the most fundamental resources, including his blockade of and attacks on Ukrainian grain.”The Black Sea Grain Initiative, which secured the shipment of 32 million tonnes of grains, faced a setback after Moscow reneged on the deal in July and intensified attacks on the infrastructure supporting Ukraine's grain industry.Russia and Ukraine are two of the world's largest producers of food grains, including wheat. Food prices have since surged, with the price of wheat, corn and soybeans surging across the globe.Putin will be absent from the G20 Leaders' Summit to be held on 9-10 September in New Delhi, for the second year in a row.At the summit, Sunak will stress the importance of those who do choose to attend demonstrating their leadership, both in helping the world's most vulnerable people to deal with the consequences of the war and in addressing wider challenges like climate change and the stability of the global economy, the high commission said in a press release.“We will use our intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance to monitor Russian activity in the Black Sea, call out Russia if we see warning signs that they are preparing attacks on civilian shipping or infrastructure in the Black Sea, and attribute attacks to prevent false flag claims that seek to deflect blame from Russia,” Sunak said.As part of these surveillance operations, British aircraft are conducting flights over the area to deter Russia from carrying out illegal strikes against civilian vessels transporting grain.Since pulling out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, Russia has declared that all ships transiting to Ukrainian Black Sea ports will be treated as military vessels-irrespective of the cargo they are carrying.It has acted upon this assessment by firing shots and boarding a cargo ship bound for one of Ukraine's Danube ports, an action which, according to the high commission, may constitute a violation of international humanitarian law.Alongside the deployment of the military to deter Russian attacks, the UK will also contribute £3 million in funding for the World Food Programme (WFP) to continue work started under Ukraine president Volodomyr Zelenskyy's 'Grain from Ukraine' initiative.This was established in November last year to send Ukrainian grain to countries whose people are suffering from the high global price of staple foods.In its first six months, the Grain from Ukraine programme allowed 170,000 tonnes of Ukrainian grain to be delivered to countries including Somalia and Yemen.The uplift in UK funding announced on Friday will enable further grain shipments to go to countries in need, as identified by the WFP. Ukraine has been a hugely important source of food for the WFP this year.This year up until July, when Russia pulled out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, WFP procured 80% of its global wheat grain from Ukraine.The high commission said the UK will convene an international food security summit in November.Supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Children's Investment Fund Foundation, the meeting will bring together government representatives worldwide, including vulnerable countries, with international organizations, NGOs, researchers and private sector companies to tackle the causes of food insecurity and malnutrition.Before Putin's full-scale invasion, Ukraine was the world's 5th largest wheat exporter, 4th largest corn exporter and 3rd largest rapeseed exporter. Grain ordinarily accounts for 41% of Ukrainian export revenue, and almost two-thirds of the grain exported by the country goes to the developing world.Families both in Ukraine and across the world continue to suffer as a direct result of Putin's brutal invasion 18 months ago. Russia has displaced 11 million people from their homes, manipulated global energy prices and made daily life more difficult for households across the planet.This year, in July,“Putin demonstrated his indifference to the human consequences of his actions yet again when he withdrew from the Black Sea Grain Initiative.” Under this initiative, brokered in July 2022, ships carrying Ukrainian grain were freely able to transit from Black Sea ports without fear of attack.The deal was providing a lifeline for millions of people around the world who depend on Ukrainian grain exports. In its first year, the agreement enabled 33 million tonnes of food to reach those who needed it in 45 countries around the world. Putin's decision to rip up the initiative has reduced global grain supply at a critical time for vulnerable people – when prices rise, the poorest pay.Since July, Russia has also damaged or destroyed at least 26 civilian port facilities, warehouses, silos and grain elevators. These attacks have directly reduced Ukraine's export capacity by one-third and destroyed enough grain to feed more than 1 million people for an entire year.

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