Washington has claimed that its sanctions on Russia do not affect the global food market
Despite concerns about rising global food prices, the United States has no plans to lift sanctions on Russian trade, State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters during a daily briefing on Wednesday.
Moscow says they affect the ability to export food and fertilizer, but it is a “False,” He said
“We must not lift our sanctions in response to empty promises, and we have heard empty promises from the Russian Federation before,” he said. Asked if Washington would lift sanctions on Moscow’s advice, Price said:
The United States has blamed Russia for raising food prices by launching a military operation in Ukraine. Western nations have called on Russia to facilitate grain exports from Ukraine, but Moscow has said the situation is “complex” and unilateral.
Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko made the latest remarks on Wednesday. He said the food crisis must be overcome “Restrictions on Russian exports and financial transactions lifted” As well as “Removal of sea mines from all Ukrainian ports”.
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Price denied this statement and others as a series by Russian officials “False” And “Rumors”.
“US sanctions do not interfere with Russia’s agricultural exports. The point is that US sanctions were specifically designed to allow the export of agricultural products and fertilizers from Russia. He said.
Washington at one point considered imposing sanctions on Russian food and fertilizer, and even buyers of Russian products, such as Brazil, strongly objected. US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Wilsack said “sacrifices may be needed to deal with the irrational war that Russia has chosen to wage,” at a UN food security meeting in March. In the end, Washington decided against such a move and added food products and fertilizers to the waiver list.
A State Department spokesman said Russian officials, including Rudenko, had otherwise made false claims. Moscow, meanwhile, says its food and fertilizer exports have been indirectly affected by restrictions on financial transactions, ship insurance, the use of Western port facilities by Russian ships and similar reasons.
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Similarly, Ukraine had decided to plant mines on its shores to prevent a possible Russian amphibious attack and to prevent foreign ships from leaving its port, Moscow said. It says its military will not suspend civilian traffic in Ukrainian ports if ships go along Russia-determined and regulated routes. But Russia alone cannot guarantee their safety, it said. Western officials have accused Moscow of maintaining a complete naval blockade of Ukraine.
Price and other Western officials, such as British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace, interpreted Rudenko’s remarks as an offer of free travel on ships carrying Ukrainian grain in exchange for sanctions relief.
Russia launched an offensive against Ukraine in late February, following Kiev’s failure to implement the terms of the first Minsk agreement, signed in 2014, and Moscow’s final recognition of Donetsk and the Donbass Republic of Lugansk. The German- and French-brokerage protocols were designed to give special status to isolated territories within the Ukrainian state.
The Kremlin has since demanded that Ukraine formally declare itself a neutral state that will never join the US-led NATO military bloc. Kyiv has insisted that the Russian invasion was completely unpleasant and has denied claims that it is planning to forcibly restore the two republics.
