on Ukrainian Port areas after warning
that commercial ships on the Black Sea
would be considered possible targets
last week Russia pulled out of a deal
which guaranteed the safe passage of
grain shipments President Putin accused
Western countries of using the expired
agreement to profiteer shamelessly but
during calls with the Russian government
officials Mr Putin said he was prepared
to return to the Accord immediately if
certain conditions were met I have to go
live now to our correspondent in Ukraine
James Waterhouse is following all of the
developments for us hi James good to see
you Russia has been accused by the U.S
of weaponizing food now it looks like
food really has become a Target
it really does doesn't it I think what
we're seeing is the Kremlin try to
rubber stamp its departure from the the
grain initiative three days ago it
officially pulled out of this deal the
only diplomatic breakthrough in this
conflict which allowed Ukraine to export
grain through the Black Sea and now not
only has Russia pulled out but it is now
starting to deliberately Target Port
areas around the southern cities of
mikalayev and Odessa now under the
initiative Moscow had agreed to leave
those areas alone so it's Keen to make a
statement but it's also clearly trying
to frustrate Ukraine uh in as many ways
possible because Ukraine is looking at
plan B's over exporting grain over land
or through the the river Danube but
these are a scratching of the surface in
terms of what Ukraine will be able to
get out and they're also also far more
extensive logistically now one of
Russia's long-term gripes has been its
inability to export its own
agricultural products through the deal
the reason for that are the wider
sanctions imposed by the West so for
example if it can put fertilizer on a
ship it can't get insurance for that
vessel and it's not able to dock in in
several locations but what Vladimir
Putin is also saying is is that he wants
the agricultural Bank of Russia to be
connected to the global fast payment
system but again
the reason it is not connected is
because of wider sanctions so you can
see this sticking point turkey one of
the main Brokers of the deal is still
confident that Russia May well come back
but at the moment if you're looking at
what's happening on the south coast it's
feeling very unlikely meanwhile wheat
prices are rising sharply across the
world are there what are the possible
areas of negotiation here then do you
think
I think it's very difficult I think
in this conflict
when Russia did agree to this deal in
July last year I remember we were we
were in Odessa we watched the first
vessel leave it felt like at the time
that Russia saw it as an opportunity to
portray itself as the solution with what
it still calls a special military
operation by saying look you know we're
doing what is necessary and right
through what is a full-scale Invasion
but we will allow Ukraine to export
grain to address the the global food
crisis but I think there is a direct
connection between the stuttering
performance of Vladimir Putin's troops
in that you know the Russia's objective
remains unclear as ever it is trying to
weather a Ukrainian counter-offensive as
we speak so I think this is Russia
trying to deploy another tactic within
its Arsenal and to be frank it is able
to do so around the South Coast because
it has long been in control of Crimea
the peninsula it annexed nine years ago
it's Maine Black Sea Fleet is based
there it controls the waters and I think
what was interesting is when we speak to
uh
grain shipment companies they haven't
allowed this grain to this initiative to
run for a couple of months so it's I
think they're doing it because they can
okay James and Keith thank you
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