Black Sea freedom of navigation crucial to global food security, UN says

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By Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -An agreement on freedom of navigation in the Black Sea to ensure the protection of civilian vessels and port infrastructure “will be a crucial contribution to global food security and supply chains,” U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Wednesday.

The United States announced separate agreements with Ukraine and Russia on Tuesday to pause their strikes in the Black Sea and against each other’s energy targets, but the rhetoric from Moscow and Kyiv suggested they remained far apart.

The United Nations has been working consistently on the issue, Dujarric said, especially since U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wrote to the leaders of Ukraine, Russia and Turkey in February last year to put forward a proposal for “safe and free navigation in the Black Sea.”

The United Nations and Turkey brokered the Black Sea Initiative between Russia and Ukraine in July 2022 to allow the safe export of Ukrainian grain. Under an accompanying three-year memorandum of understanding, U.N. officials agreed to help Russia move its food and fertilizer exports to foreign markets.

Russia withdrew from the Black Sea Initiative in July 2023, complaining that its food and fertilizer exports faced serious obstacles.

Top U.N. trade official Rebeca Grynspan has continued to work with Russia on implementation of the MOU and most recently met with Russian officials in Moscow on Monday.

“The United Nations also remains closely engaged in the continued implementation of the memorandum of understanding,” Dujarric said. “The Secretary-General’s good offices remain available to support all efforts towards peace.”

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Katharine Jackson and Rod Nickel)