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News UK UK Politics UN plan to get grain out of Ukraine doomed to fail, says Boris Johnson The invasion of Ukraine by Russia has compromised world food supplies. open image in gallery
Cereals from Ukraine are unloaded from a barge in the Black Sea port of Constanta, Romania (Vadim Ghirda/AP) (AP) Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
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Your support makes all the difference. Read more Boris Johnson said the United Nationsā plan to get the grain out of Ukraine is a ānon-starterā because Vladimir Putin will continue to use food supply as a bargaining chip to ease sanctions.
The prime minister argued that allies need to now consider āplan Bā, as he pledged British expertise to help de-mine the Black Sea and provide further weapons.
Mr Johnson wants to offer insurance for commercial vessels to help free the 23 million tonnes of grain trapped by the Russian presidentās blockade.
The UN is trying to alleviate a global food crisis by calling on Nato member Turkey and Russia to agree a safe corridor for exports.
But Mr Johnson was downbeat on the plan. āThe problem is that Putin is going to use that as a pretext, as a way to try and get sanctions relaxed,ā he told reporters.
The PM added: āAnd he is going to say Iāll let the 23 million tonnes of grain out if youāll go easy on this, this and this. I donāt think thatās a runner.ā
Mr Johnson said he would discuss with a āplan Bā with G7 and Nato leaders this week. He said it was vital to āfind ways of empowering the Ukrainians to control the sea lanes from the shore with various bits of kitā.
He added: āAnd there are two things in particular which the UK has expertise in. One is de-mining, remote de-mining, and the other is insurance of commercial vessels in contested waters and how to make it possible for people to take on that job.ā
Mr Johnson said Britain is still in talks with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and the Turks to get an agreement.
āAt some stage the world is going to have to move from Plan A which is the UN plan with Russian help, which I think is probably going to be a non-starter, to a plan B,ā he added.
The PM insisted Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan ādefinitely wants the grain outā when asked if he is too close to the Putin regime.
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(PA Graphics) (PA Graphics) Mr Johnson was in Rwanda discussing the grain crisis with leaders at a Commonwealth summit and is travelling on to G7 in Germany on Sunday, before heading onto Nato meetings in Spain.
The PM also said Ukraine is at a ācritical pointā in the war where it appears that the Russians are ārunning out of puffā. But he warned against any attempt to push president Zelensky into a ābadā peace deal.
He warned allies against becoming āexhausted with this thingā, arguing it would be a ādisasterā for the world if Mr Putin wins ground.
He said: āJust mincing, mincing up the Ukrainians, let me choose a better word, can you strike mincing out, just keep grinding forward, thatās a better way of putting it, keep grinding forward, thatās a better way of putting it. That is the risk.ā
Foreign secretary Liz Truss was also warning against getting ātiredā support for Ukraine, as she warned against a peace deal that would be a āconcessionā to Moscow.
After holding talks with Turkey in Ankara, she told reporters in Kigali that āweāve only got a month to do this. My concern is that Russia is currently prevaricatingā.
Meanwhile, the UK, US, Canada and Japan will ban imports of Russian gold in the latest stage of the effort to cripple Russiaās economy in response to the war in Ukraine.
Gold exports were worth Ā£12.6bn to Russia in 2021, Downing Street said. Its importance has increased since Putinās invasion of Ukraine as oligarchs have rushed to buy bullion to avoid the impact of sanctions.
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