U.S. Thanks Turkey For Saving The Grain Deal, Hopes For Its Continuity

Washington on Wednesday thanked Turkey for its efforts to secure a resumption of the Black Sea Grain Initiative by encouraging Russia’s return, TURAN's U.S, correspondent report.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke today with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and expressed his gratitude.

Earlier in the day, Russia said that it would resume its participation in the Black Sea grain initiative after withdrawing from it on Saturday,

"We welcome the fact that through dint of efforts by the UN secretary-general, by our Turkish allies as well, that the Black Sea Grain Initiative will resume, it will resume with ships, according to the UN, transiting the Black Sea again later this week," State Department's spokesperson Ned Price told TURAN's correspondent during the daily press briefing.

He went on to add, "It is our hope – and I guess the saying is true that you don’t fully recognize the value of something until it’s at risk or gone, and perhaps the world over the past couple of days has taken note even more so of the value, of the importance, of the indispensability – and I don’t think that is overstating it, the indispensability – of this particular mechanism. It is responsible for some 420 vessels setting sail from Ukrainian Black Sea ports since it went into effect on August 1st. It’s responsible for 9.8 million – nearly 10 million – metric tons of grain, the vast majority of which, two-thirds, has gone to the developing world; nearly one-fifth of that and nearly one-fifth of it has gone to the world’s least developed countries."

Price also reminded that the deal comes up for renewal later this month. "Even before the statements that emanated from Russia this weekend, we were focused on efforts to renew this grain deal," he said, adding that "this is not something that quite literally the world can live without."

"It’s our goal to see to it that there is predictability, that there is stability in this marketplace, and by setting this initiative back on track, by working and supporting the Turks and the UN and the other parties to see that this initiative is not only set back in motion but it’s renewed later this month, that will ultimately inject even more predictability and stability into this marketplace, and most importantly, apply downward pressure to food prices," Price concluded.

Alex Raufoglu

Washington D.C.