ROME, March 5. /TASS/. The Black Sea Grain Initiative must be extended at all costs’, Executive Director of the World Food Program (WFP) David Beasley wrote on Twitter.
"The world’s population is in grave danger if we don’t renew the Black Sea grain initiative," he said. According to Beasley, "The Black Sea Grain Initiative must be renewed at all costs. Ukraine alone feeds 400 mln people around the world. The World Food Program, just with this initiative, we’ve been able to reach 36 mln people."
"Imagine if this Black Sea grain initiative doesn’t continue. We well have mass destabilization, mass migration, and famine around the world. To all the leaders in the world, we need to renew the Black Sea grain initiative. It is that critical, it’s that important. The world is at stake," he said.
The agreements on the export of food from Ukraine were concluded on July 22 for a period of 120 days. One of the agreements regulating grain exports from the Kiev-controlled ports of Odessa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny. The other deal inked between Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the UN provides for the establishment of a four-party coordination center whose representatives inspect grain ships in order to prevent arms smuggling and false flag operations. Additionally, Russia and the UN signed a memorandum, under which the organization was supposed to engage in efforts to lift anti-Russian restrictions preventing the export of agricultural products and fertilizers. In November, the grain deal was extended for another 120 days.
Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported on March 2 that the grain deal was not working and that the West was sabotaging the Russian part of the agreements. The ministry said that the Russian side intended to donate 262,000 metric tons of Russian fertilizers to the poorest countries, but these deliveries were halted in the ports of Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and the Netherlands. The only fertilizer shipment was a shipment of 20,000 metric tons to Malawi, which "has not yet reached the recipient.".