U.S. Agriculture Secretary Adds Voice To Growing Concerns About Blockade Of Ukrainian Grain Exports
The U.S. agriculture secretary has called on Russia to rapidly open Ukraine’s ports to allow the export of millions of tons of stockpiled grain, while a U.S. satellite company says it has images of Russian ships delivering Ukrainian grain to Syria.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters at the UN in New York on June 16 that the situation is “serious” and said food should not be used “as a weapon.”
A Russian Navy blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports for weeks has prevented commercial cargo ships from carrying grain to global markets.
Moscow has demanded that economic sanctions on it be lifted in exchange for allowing grain exports.
International grain prices have soared amid the standoff, and key importers in the Middle East and Africa are facing supply shortfalls.
UN officials, including Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, have expressed concern that the situation could worsen hunger in some parts of the world. UN negotiators have been trying to broker a deal to resume Ukrainian grain exports, as well as Russian food and fertilizer exports.
Vilsack said he hoped that Russia’s participation in the talks is not just to “create an image.”
He urged Moscow “to make sure that they are negotiating in good faith about the reopening of the ports and they do so quickly. Because the need is immediate.”
Turkey has said it would host a meeting with the United Nations, Russia, and Ukraine to organize safe corridors for grain exports, but there was no immediate comment from Moscow, which Ukraine says has been stealing its grain.
Those allegations appeared to be backed up on June 16 when the U.S. satellite imagery company Maxar said it has images of Russian-flagged ships carrying Ukrainian grain harvested last season to Syria.
The images show two Russian-flagged ships docked in the Russian-controlled Crimean port of Sevastopol in May being loaded with grain.
Days later, Maxar satellites collected images of the same ships docked in Syria, with their hatches open and trucks lined up to haul the grain away, Maxar said.
The company said another image from June showed a different ship being loaded with grain in Sevastopol.
Ukraine has accused Russia of stealing grain from the territories that Russian forces have occupied since its invasion began in late February.
The deputy head of a Ukrainian agriculture producers union last week said that Russia has stolen about 600,000 tons of grain from occupied territory and exported some of it.
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