British Empire UNSC Meeting To Hang Russia, but Most Nations Would Rather Have Food

July 21, 2023, 2022 (EIRNS)—U.K. Ambassador to the UN Dame Barbara Woodward was pleased to convene a United Nations Security Council meeting this morning, again to accuse Russia of war crimes, but many of the Council member nations’ ambassadors indicated that the Black Sea Grain Initiative having ended, they would simply wish it to be restored by negotiations.

It was the expressed view of Dame Barbara, French Ambassador Nicolas de Rivière, and U.S. Ambassador Linda Greenfield-Thomas, along with the specially invited Ukrainian representative and echoers such as the Albanian, Maltese, Romanian and Ecuadoran representatives, that destruction of civilian infrastructure at the Odessa port by Russia is a crime against humanity, nothing less than “waging war on the world’s food supply” and “stealing the food supply of millions.” But as Russian First Deputy Permanent Representative Dmitry Polyanskiy pointed out, when Ukraine blew up Russia’s Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline in June, which had produced enough raw material every year for fertilizer for 45 million people, and road/rail bridges built in Russia are attacked, no mention is made by the UN or NATO leaders, who think these events are better assigned to the fog of war.

But once again, there were quite a few nations represented that did not attend the session to attack Russia, but to express the hope that further negotiations can result in the Black Sea Grain Initiative being resumed in effect. These nations included China, the U.A.E., Brazil, and from Africa, Ghana, Gabon and Mozambique. China’s Ambassador Geng Shuang made a point of calling for the unblocking of grain and fertilizer exports.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, though on the UNSC but who had played a major role in organizing the grain initiative, called today for Western (NATO) countries to consider Russia’s demands for restoration of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, and said, “I believe that by thoroughly discussing the matter with President Putin, we can ensure the continuation of this humanitarian effort.”

At the UNSC, both the U.K. and United States—while never mentioning fertilizer which are among the Russian exports that are blocked—harped on saying that “63% of Ukrainian grain exported under the agreement” had gone to “poor and middle-income countries.” But “middle-income countries” include the biggest commercial importers of Kiev’s grain. Gabon’s Ambassador Michel Xavier Biang restated the truth, moreover, that only 3% of those exports had gone to the poorest countries in Africa.

Notably, Polyanskiy responded in his statement: “What was it that you expected? From the very start, we have been drawing everyone’s attention to the fact that the initiative did not meet the initially proclaimed goal and was gaining a well-defined commercial nature.” And he named the beneficiaries of that commercial sales boom in Ukrainian grain: Cargill, DuPont, and Monsanto; and the losers, Russian farmers, who had to sell their bumper harvests under conditions of effective sanctions.