Putin claims Russia does not block Ukrainian grain exports; accuses West of 'bluster'

Russia does not obstruct grain export from Ukraine and it can be done through the ports in the Black Sea and the neighbouring nations, said Russian President Vladimir Putin. In an interview with the Rossiya-1 TV Channel, the Kremlin leader declared that Russian forces do not “put obstacles” to Ukrainian grain exports. He accused the West of “bluster” by claiming that Moscow was preventing exports from Ukraine. 

As the Russia-Ukraine war passed the grim milestone of 100 days, Ukrainian authorities blamed Russia for ‘blocking’ the exports and claimed that Putin’s forces have already stolen half a million tons of grain. Alarmed over possible food shortage, several Western nations have urged Moscow to cease its military offensive. Moreover, United Nations (UN) chief Martin Griffiths was in Russia on Thursday and Friday to discuss the clearance of passage to grain export. 

"As regards Ukrainian grain exports, we do not put obstacles to that," Putin said in the televised interview.

The Russian President also mentioned that there are several ways of exporting the grain, such as via ports controlled by Ukraine after mine clearance, via Berdyansk and Mariupol, via the Danube River and Romania, Hungary and Poland, and the simplest way is through Belarus, as per the report. 

He also said that ports under Kyiv’s control, especially Odesa, could also be used while calling for the waters around Ukrainian-held ports to be “cleared” of mines by Ukraine. Putin even underscored that the Ukrainian side was playing the role of the army’s ‘blocking detachments’.

The Russian President said, "But the simplest, the easiest, the cheapest would be exported via Belarus, from there one can go to Baltic ports, then to the Baltic Sea and then anywhere in the world”. However, the Kremlin leader said any export via Belarus would be conditional on the “lifting of sanctions” by the West against Minsk, a staunch ally of Moscow. 

UN trying to broker ‘package deal’ with Russia 

While UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is trying to broker a “package deal” to resume Ukrainian food exports and Russian food and fertilizer exports, his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric noted that “the situation remains fluid”. Dujarric said, “The Secretary‑General, and the two main people he has tasked to work on this, Rebecca Grynspan and Martin Griffiths - we will do and go anywhere we need to go to push this project forward.”

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