Grain corridor agreement: proposal for military patrols to protect it

The Office of the President of Ukraine has put forward the idea of establishing military patrols to protect the grain corridor. This was stated by Mykhailo Podolyak, Advisor to the Head of the Presidential Office.

He noted that grain cannot be the object of military purposes, and the Black Sea is not Russia's internal water area and does not fall under its jurisdiction.

"Instead of authorizing appropriate legal actions, providing military patrols along the internationally recognized borders of the grain corridor and emphasizing to Russia the inadmissibility of obstructing the movement of ships in accordance with international law, we are faced with public insults and pleas from the aggressor and violator to show loyalty. Whether there will be those willing to create a conditional patrol police is another question. The main thing is to outline our position: there is international law that must be observed," the official said.

The Grain Corridor Agreement, which aims to ensure the safe passage of ships from Ukrainian Black Sea ports for food exports, was signed on July 21, 2022, and has been extended several times. Today, on July 17, the agreement expires, and the Kremlin has announced its decision to stop participating in this initiative.

Even before the last extension, Moscow threatened to withdraw from the agreement if certain conditions were not met. The demands were to unblock foreign assets and accounts of Russian companies related to food and fertilizers, as well as to resume the supply of agricultural machinery, spare parts, and service. In addition, Russia is demanding the resumption of the Togliatti-Odesa ammonia pipeline and the return of Rosselkhozbank to the SWIFT system.

Ukraine's Ambassador to Turkey Vasyl Bodnar explained that the grain corridor agreement does not provide for the satisfaction of Russia's needs. However, as an aggressor country, Russia signed a memorandum with the UN to facilitate the resolution of issues related to the ammonia pipeline and the lifting of sanctions.

Taras Vysotskyi, Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, spoke about an alternative plan to continue exporting agricultural products if Russia withdraws from the agreement. In particular, the plan envisages expanding the capacity of the Danube region and increasing transshipment opportunities there. In addition, the commissioning of additional checkpoints and dry ports on the western border with Poland and Romania is underway.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, responding to Russia's announcement of withdrawal from the agreement, has already noted that ship-owning companies are ready to continue using the Black Sea corridor for grain supplies if Ukraine and Turkey agree to do so.