Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that he will again order Russia out of the grain export deal if Ukraine breaches its commitments, particularly on security, hours after the resumption of the pact was announced.
Putin explained during a meeting with the security leadership that «Russia reserves the right to withdraw» if it considers that there are not sufficient guarantees, although he guaranteed that he would not hinder the shipment of grain from Ukraine to Turkey, which he considers «neutral».
The Russian president has claimed that this agreement was conceived to improve food security in poor countries, but they have barely received 4 percent of the total. Almost half of the cargo, he assured, has gone to European Union countries, although Putin did not discriminate between intermediate and final destinations.
If Russia again pulls out of the agreement, Putin has pledged to deliver free of charge to developing countries an amount of grain equivalent to that exported from Ukraine under the July pact between Kiev and Moscow, reports the Interfax agency.
The UN and Turkey acted as mediators before the signing and also during the implementation of the commitments made, thanks to which almost 10 million tons of grain have left Ukraine. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has in recent hours launched a new round of contacts with the parties.
