Media Stakeout by Dmytro Kuleba, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, on the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

Speaking to journalists outside the General Assembly, Ukraine’s Minister for Foreign Affairs said, “Yesterday, when I had a meeting with the Secretary-General, ahead of his phone conversation with President Zelenskyy, we literally discussed all possible options with him.”
He continued, “And he instructed relevant departments of the Secretariat to consider possible viable options.”

Kuleba concluded, “So less than 48 hours since Russia withdrew from The Grain Initiative, we are literally still looking into every possible option. We're doing it in Kyiv, our partners are doing it in Brussels, in Washington, here at the headquarters, in Ankara. Everyone is looking for the way out.”

BLACK SEA INITIATIVE
This morning, the Secretary-General said that he deeply regrets the decision by the Russian Federation to terminate the implementation of the Black Sea Initiative – including the withdrawal of Russian security guarantees for navigation in the northwest part of the Black Sea.
He noted that this Initiative has ensured the safe passage of over 32 million metric tonnes of food commodities from Ukrainian ports.
The Initiative, he said, together with the Memorandum of Understanding on facilitating exports of Russian food products and fertilizers, has been a lifeline for global food security and a beacon of hope in a troubled world.
He said that participation in these agreements is a choice, but struggling people everywhere, especially in developing countries don’t have a choice. He warned that hundreds of millions of people face hunger and consumers are confronting a global cost-of-living crisis, including food prices.
He said he was deeply disappointed that his proposals went unheeded, adding that today’s decision by the Russian Federation will strike a blow to people in need everywhere. But he will not stop and United Nations will not stop our efforts to facilitate unimpeded access to global markets for food products and fertilizers from Ukraine and the Russian Federation.