ROME: The United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday urged Russia to revive the internationally brokered agreement so that grain can be transported from the Black Sea ports of Ukraine.
He said that if Moscow did not revive the deal, the world’s most vulnerable among the hungry would suffer the worst effects.
The UN chief made the appeal during an address in Rome at the opening of a 3-day food summit, according to Western media reports.
He said that there were already negative effects on the global prices of wheat and corn.
Wheat rates have risen more than 14% since Monday, when Moscow pulled out of the grain agreement, and corn rates went up more than 10%.
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Guterres said that both Russia and Ukraine were essential to global food security. They had historically accounted for 30% of global wheat and barley exports, a 5th of all maize and more than half of all sunflower oil.
UN chief committed to facilitate access to global markets
The UN chief added that he was committed to facilitating unimpeded access to world markets for food commodities and fertilizer from both Russia and Ukraine and to deliver the food security every individual deserves.
Moscow’s refusal to renew the agreement triggered the accord’s collapse earlier this month.
The deal had been brokered by the UN and Turkiye as a way to keep grain flowing to developing nations, particularly in Africa and the Middle East, despite the Russia-Ukraine war.
