China urges resumption of grain, fertiliser exports from Ukraine and Russia
- Beijing asks parties to return to talks in the interest of food security after the collapse of the Black Sea deal
- At UN, China also calls for calm amid attacks on major civilian infrastructure
Geng Shuang, China’s deputy representative to the United Nations, told a UN Security Council discussion on Friday that all countries involved needed to make a concerted effort to resolve the impasse.
“[Countries need to] make joint efforts … to accelerate dialogue and consultation and seek a balanced solution to the legitimate concerns of all parties, and resume at an early date the export of food and fertilisers,” Geng said, according to a transcript on the Chinese mission’s website.
He said such action was “in the interest of safeguarding international food security, and especially in the interest of alleviating the food crisis in developing countries”.
Geng also noted “recent attacks on major civilian infrastructure” and called for calm to prevent the conflict from escalating further.
His appeal followed Moscow’s decision on Monday to pull out of the Black Sea deal brokered by the UN and Turkey a year ago.