Reuters: Putin to use ʼgrain dealʼ as leverage at G20 summit

Russian President Putin plans to use the “grain agreement” to pressure and encourage other countries to negotiate at the G20 summit. This agreement allowed Ukraine to export grain and other agricultural crops from Black Sea ports.

Reuters writes about this with reference to sources.

The “grain agreement” is due to expire on November 19, and all countries will call on Russia to continue its operation. In Europe, it is believed that Putin will come to the G20 summit, and the topic of the continuation of this agreement will become a key one.

“The grain deal will be the central theme of this G20 summit and everyone will be trying to convince Putin to extend it, in fact to give his approval or extend it for a longer period,” the European diplomat said.

For Russia, this is a way to have trump cards during the summit, since it costs nothing to formally agree to the extension of the agreement. According to the diplomat, the leaders of the G20 countries will push Putin to such a decision and he will eventually agree. In this way, Putin wants to make him the key person of the summit, with whom everyone will want to hold negotiations and allegedly become the ones who were able to persuade the Russian president to extend the agreement.

• On July 22, Russia signed an agreement on unblocking the export of Ukrainian grain from the ports of Odesa, Pivdenny, and Chornomorsk. The agreement was signed by Ukraine, the Russian Federation, Turkey and the UN as a mediator. During the day, Russian troops bombarded the port of Odesa with missiles. On August 5, the first caravan of ships left the ports of Odesa.
• On September 6, Putin said that it is necessary to limit the export directions of Ukrainian grain and food via the Black Sea as part of the “grain agreement”. He said that Ukrainian grain goes to the EU, not to Africa. The Ministry of Infrastructure denied his statement. On the same day, Russiaʼs permanent representative to the UN, Vasiliy Nebenzia, said that the Russian Federation may refuse to extend the “grain agreement” in November.
• On October 13, the permanent representative of Russia at the UN in Geneva, Gennadiy Gatilov, also stated that the Russian Federation may withdraw from the “grain agreement” if its requirements are not met. The UN Secretary General received a letter with a list of claims from the Russian side. The main one, according to Gatilov, is guarantees of equal export of grain through the Black Sea.
• According to the mass media, Russia has also established a scheme for the export of stolen Ukrainian grain and plans to steal almost 1.8 million tons of Ukrainian products by the end of the year.