Russia FM Lavrov guarantees grain export via ships if Ukraine demines Black Sea waters

Russia's foreign minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday stated that Kremlin can guarantee the safe passage of grain vessels to the Mediterranean Sea as long as Ukraine demines the nearby coastal waters. Speaking at a press conference during a visit to Bahrain, Lavrov said that it is crucial that the Ukrainian representatives clear the coastal waters from mines for the ships to transit through the water.

 "If this problem is solved, then on the high seas, the Russian naval forces will ensure the unhindered passage of these ships to the Mediterranean Sea and further to their destinations," Lavrov told reporters. 

Russia's foreign minister Sergey Lavrov further said that "everything that depends on [Russia] is guaranteed," refering to the grain passage that has triggered the global food crisis. Ukraine's President Vlodomyr Zelesnkyy has accused Russia's forces of confiscating nearly 22 million tons of grain and selling it off discreetly in Syria. Russia's blockade of the key ports in the Black Sea and Azov Sea has disrupted Ukraine's grain supply to other countries of the world.

Putin supports 'unimpeded' export of Ukrainian grain in exchange of sanctions removal 

In a phone call with the Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Russian President Vladimir Putin iterated that Kremlin will support the "unimpeded" export of Ukrainian grain from the ports, although he demanded the removal of the West's embargoes on Moscow in return. Russia is ready to "export significant volumes of fertilizers and agricultural products" if the sanctions imposed on Russia "are lifted," Putin said, according to the readout of the call between the Turkish and the Russian leader. 

Lavrov on Tuesday echoed Putin's offer of traversing the blockaded grain supply in the Black Sea. "If this demining problem is solved, and we have been attracting the attention of our Western colleagues worried about this for many weeks now, then on the high seas the naval forces of the Russian Federation will ensure the unhindered passage of these ships to the Mediterranean Sea and further to their destinations," Russia's foreign minister said. Moscow has blamed the US and the EU's sanctions for the disruptions in grain supplies that it says have elevated the risks of a global food crisis in several countries, particularly the developing nations. Lavorv also argued that the world struggled with the looming food crisis even before Russia launched the special military operation in Ukraine, due to the COVID-19 pandemic border controls.