Secretary of State Antony Blinken made clear Friday that the U.S. is looking to Turkey to help prod Russia back into the Black Sea grain deal that Moscow blew up earlier this week, roiling global wheat markets and escalating military tensions in the region,
Politico reports.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and top U.N. officials helped to broker the fragile agreement last year. Since Russia’s withdrawal Monday, U.S. officials have said they’re working with Turkey, Ukraine and other allies to salvage the deal and bolster other export routes from Ukraine — one of the world’s top wheat exporters.
Erdogan doesn’t appear willing at this point to continue the deal without Russian involvement. But Blinken Friday pointedly laid out U.S. expectations for Turkey to continue to lead on the effort to reassemble the fragile agreement during his remarks at the Aspen Security Forum.
“We look to Turkey to play the role that it has already played, a leadership role in getting this back on track,” Blinken said. “Making sure that people around the world can get the food they need at reasonable prices.”
After leaving the agreement, Moscow has continued a barrage of airstrikes on the key Ukrainian port city of Odesa that has “heavily damaged” grain silos and key port infrastructure, according to Ukrainian officials in the city. Blinken reiterated that Russia is “weaponizing food” and “doing something truly unconscionable.”
“So I hope the world is watching this, and seeing how Russia is cynically manipulating food in order to advance its objectives in Ukraine,” Blinken added.
Blinken noted Russia’s withdrawal from the deal, threats to attack civilian ships in the Black Sea heading to Ukrainian ports and its airstrikes on Odesa has “put a deep chill” on commercial shipping and the insurance that’s needed to move massive amounts of grain and other key food supplies through the region. Ukraine has also threatened to attack ships heading to Russian ports.
