"For months and months, Ukrainian grain leaving the Black Sea was blocked - grain that many countries, especially in Africa and the Middle East, rely on. That's what makes the Black Sea Grain Initiative such a critical arrangement, one that has been a beacon of hope to the world," Thomas-Greenfield said during a UN Security Council meeting.
The US ambassador noted that the initiative facilitated last year the safe export of more than 15 million tons of food, including wheat used for humanitarian operations in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Somalia and Yemen.
"We must ensure this life-saving aid continues to flow to those in need," Thomas-Greenfield said.
According to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, issues remain with the implementation of the Black Sea grain deal after the agreement was extended for another two months, and the parties continue to discuss them.
"I welcome the Russian Federation's confirmation that they will continue to participate in the Black Sea Initiative for another 60 days but outstanding issues remain, and representatives of Russia, Ukraine, Turkiye and the United Nations will keep discussing them," Guterres told a UN Security Council meeting. "Looking ahead, we hope that exports of food and fertilizers, including ammonia from the Russian Federation and Ukraine will be able to reach global supply chains safely and predictably."
Last week, the parties to the agreement extended it until July 17. However, the Russian Foreign Ministry warned that if the raised issues, including Moscow's demand to reconnect the Russian Agricultural Bank to the SWIFT system, are not addressed within two months, the deal will be terminated after July 17.
In an interview with Russia's newspaper Izvestia, European Union foreign affairs spokesperson Peter Stano said the bloc may restore the access of Russian banks, including of the Russian Agricultural Bank, to the SWIFT system but after the conflict in Ukraine ends.
The United Nations and Turkiye brokered the grain agreement in July 2022 to facilitate exports of Ukrainian agricultural products from Black Sea ports amid the conflict in that country. The agreement also includes a memorandum of understanding between Russia and the United Nations to unblock Russian grain and fertilizer exports via the Black Sea, which, according to Moscow, has not been implemented due to the sanctions imposed by the collective West.