The United Nations is trying to broker a deal with Russia to allow Ukraine to restart grain exports via the Black Sea. Biden administration officials and lawmakers, however, are highly skeptical Russia is operating in good faith,
Politico reports.
Their primary reason for pessimism: recent comments from Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian officials suggesting they would ease the blockade on Ukraine’s ports if, in exchange, the West lifts its economic sanctions on Moscow. That proposal is “complicating” the “fragile” negotiations, a U.N. official told POLITICO, shortly before the U.N.’s top humanitarian official wrapped two days of talks on the blockade in Moscow on Friday. One U.S. official described Moscow’s pitch as “extortion diplomacy” and said the U.S. wouldn’t agree to a deal that lifted any economic pressure on the Kremlin.
Any deal to allow Ukraine to export grain ahead of the summer wheat harvest would be a major breakthrough, and U.S. officials and global businesses are closely watching Russia’s talks with the U.N., as well as separate negotiations with Turkey, about allowing safe passage for Ukrainian grain to world markets. The blockade has upended global trade routes while threatening to financially strangle Ukraine and deepen hunger crises around the world. U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres is trying to strike a deal that would ensure both Ukrainian and Russian food and fertilizer exports can safely reach foreign markets.
Martin Griffiths, one of the U.N. officials leading the talks, met with Russian officials from the ministries of defense and foreign affairs about Russia’s blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports during his visit to Moscow, according to a second U.N. official. The U.N. has declined to say whether Griffiths or Rebeca Grynspan, the other U.N. official leading the talks, have broached Russia’s calls for sanctions relief during their discussions. U.S. officials are not in the room during the talks, but a State Department and a U.N. official separately confirmed a U.N. delegation recently briefed U.S. officials on the discussions.
“The bottom line is that, apart from leveraging overland routes, we need to get the ports back up and running so we can boost food supplies for those most in need,” said a State Department spokesperson.
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield has expressed general U.S. support for the early discussions, but has also noted that there are no sanctions keeping Russia from exporting its own food and agricultural products like fertilizer, as Putin has suggested. State Department aides appear more hopeful about the negotiations than others in the Biden administration, but most officials said they’re waiting for the talks to progress further to see whether Russia drops its calls for sanction relief.
“It’s hard to view the Russian offers in good faith considering how they are actively and intentionally destroying food products in Ukraine and exacerbating global food insecurity,” a U.S. official said, referencing Russian forces’ continued targeting of Ukrainian agriculture facilities and fields.
Republicans on Capitol Hill have bristled at the Russian calls for sanctions relief as well. Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho, the top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, said in an interview that Moscow’s demand for sanctions relief in exchange for lifting their Black Sea blockade amounts to “blackmail.”
“Putin is waging war on other innocent people across the world by holding Ukrainian food and related exports hostage,” Risch said.
U.S. lawmakers have, however, have been pushing for the Biden administration to help Ukraine reopen its Black Sea port of Odesa, the country’s only port still under their control. But the Biden administration for now has ruled out sending military ships into the region, which would risk Russian retaliation. Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley told reporters Tuesday that de-mining Ukraine’s ports and navigating Russia’s naval blockade “would be a high-risk military operation that would require significant levels of effort.”
Instead, the administration is planning to keep sending weapons to help Ukraine fight off Russian forces attacking Odesa and eastern regions of the country, while pushing to open up more land routes to move grain.
Biden officials were originally hesitant to publicly connect Russia’s conflict with Ukraine to likely devastating food shortages and price hikes around the world, concerned it would panic Americans unnecessarily (since the U.S. is a major grain exporter, the domestic market is insulated from the worst of the Ukraine-related shocks). But in the past few weeks, the president has increasingly warned of the Russian blockade triggering long-term damage to global economies and strained food systems while pushing up already high food prices.
Discussing the more than 20 million tons of grain trapped at Ukraine’s ports, Biden noted that “normally, that would have already been exported into the world market,” Biden said during remarks on the economy Friday. “But because of Putin’s invasion and a blockade of the port at which they could take that grain out for the rest of the world, it’s not.”
