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Russian President Vladimir Putin seems to have conditioned the possible reopening of Ukraine’s grain exports with a easing of sanctions that the West imposed on Moscow after the start of the Ukrainian occupation.
But the president of France and the chancellor of Germany responded that easing sanctions would require the withdrawal of Russian troops and a “serious” peace effort from Moscow.
In a telephone conversation on May 28, Putin told French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that “Russia is ready to help find opportunities not to impede the export of cereals, including Ukrainian cereals.” “from the ports of the Black Sea,” the Kremlin announced.
But he linked the easing of the blockade on Russia or Ukrainian ports to the lifting of tough Western sanctions on Moscow following the start of the February 24 invasion of Ukraine.
The British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, meanwhile, told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that his country and the G7 partners are working to help Ukraine restore grain exports.
But the Kremlin said there was a link between international sanctions and the lifting of export barriers, and that the issue was discussed in Putin’s conversation with Macron and Scholz.
“An increase in supplies of Russian fertilizers and agricultural products could also help reduce tensions in the world food market, which certainly requires the lifting of significant sanctions,” the Kremlin said.
Ukraine is one of the world’s largest exporters of wheat, corn and sunflower oil, but Russian forces are currently blocking its Black Sea ports, jeopardizing world supplies.
Putin also warned Macron and Scholz against continuing to supply Ukraine with weapons, saying it could further destabilize the situation.
Berlin said that in this 80-minute conversation, Scholz and Macron called on Putin to engage in “serious direct talks” with Ukrainian President Zelensky, “and find diplomatic solutions to the conflict.”
Scholz also said they had asked the Russian president for an immediate ceasefire “and the withdrawal of Russian troops.”
Meanwhile, in the announcement of the French Presidency, it was said that Putin was asked to release thousands of Ukrainian fighters who were taken prisoner in the Azovstal steel factory, in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol.
“The President of the Republic and the German Chancellor demanded the release of close to 2,500 defenders of the Azovstal factory, who are prisoners of war by Russian forces,” said the French Presidency.
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