There will be no Ukraine’s export of grain according to the scenario of Putin and his accomplice Lukashenko. President Zelenskyy threw light on the situation.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that the head of the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin, and his accomplice, the head of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, proposed the so-called “Belarusian scenario” for grain exports from Ukraine.
At the same time, according to Zelenskyy, Ukraine can export a maximum of 10 million tons of grain per month by land, but this is not enough. So the main priority is to unblock the ports in the Black Sea.
According to the “Belarusian scenario”, Ukraine could supply food for export by rail through Belarus.
“Yes, we were offered to go (to transport grain. – Ed.) through Belarus by rail. But we understand why we were offered this. And we are not yet ready to follow this way,” Zelenskyy said at a meeting with journalists a few days ago.
“There are several options for exporting our grain. We are talking with the Baltic countries, with Poland on exporting a small amount by rail. That is just one of the possible ways. Another one is exporting by ports. It is the most important and has top priority. [By land] we can export 10 million tons per month. If 22-25 million tons are currently blocked, it may already be 75 million tons in the fall. And what will we do then? Therefore, we will not be able to do without ports,” Zelenskyy stressed.
He confirmed that Turkey could become an intermediary in unblocking Ukrainian ports. “We need to have a safe corridor for ships for the countries to ensure grain export. And here we spoke with both Britain and Turkey. Turkey is now looking for ways to provide us with guarantees. I think that is why they are meeting with the Russians – for Russia to give guarantees to Turkey,” the president explained.
However, he also stressed that the best guarantee for providing green grain corridors would be to place Ukrainian anti-ship missile systems in the export areas.
“I believe that these are the best guarantees because you can expect anything from the Russian fleet. We are working on this and will get anti-ship missile systems… We are not threatening; we are just ready to respond very quickly,” Zelenskyy said.
The second option is guarantees from countries that Ukraine can trust. Negotiations are also carried on with the UN.
Tags: lukashenko Putin russia ukraine war
