RIYADH: Russia’s withdrawal on Saturday from the UN-brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative is “politically irresponsible and undermines the humanitarian situation in the Middle East and North Africa,” Ukraine’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Anatolii Petrenko told Arab News.
Russia suspended its participation in the deal after what it said was a major Ukrainian drone attack on its naval fleet in Crimea.
Petrenko said: “It’s crucial to underscore that Russia concluded this grain initiative with the UN and Turkiye.” As such, its withdrawal “shows its inconsistency and unreliability to its commitments.”
He added: “As we speak, 176 ships with 2 million tons of grain on board are being blocked by Russia, waiting to be granted passage to their final destinations.”
Arab News tried to obtain comment from the Russian Embassy in Riyadh, but no response camw at the time of publishing the report.
The aim of the Black Sea Grain Initiative was to distribute vital food and fertilizer exports from Ukraine to the rest of the world. Petrenko said Ukraine is committed to maintaining its role as a “reliable grain supplier.”
On Saturday, Russian Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev said with assistance from Turkey, his country was ready to supplant Ukrainian grain and supply up to 500,000 tons to countries in need in the next four months for free, Reuters reported.
Petrenko said: “We have serious reasons to believe that this is an attempt to smuggle grain previously stolen from the occupied territories of Ukraine.”
He urged Russia to “reverse its withdrawal” from the initiative and “recommit itself” to its implementation.
Russian withdrawal from grain deal will hurt MENA: Ukraine envoy
https://arab.news/cz7b2
Russian withdrawal from grain deal will hurt MENA: Ukraine envoy
- On Saturday, Russian Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev said with assistance from Turkey, his country was ready to supplant Ukrainian grain
US bars five Europeans it says pressured tech firms to censor American viewpoints online
WASHINGTON: The State Department announced Tuesday it was barring five Europeans it accused of leading efforts to pressure US tech firms to censor or suppress American viewpoints.
The Europeans, characterized by Secretary of State Marco Rubio as “radical” activists and “weaponized” nongovernmental organizations, fell afoul of a new visa policy announced in May to restrict the entry of foreigners deemed responsible for censorship of protected speech in the United States.
“For far too long, ideologues in Europe have led organized efforts to coerce American platforms to punish American viewpoints they oppose,” Rubio posted on X. “The Trump Administration will no longer tolerate these egregious acts of extraterritorial censorship.”
The five Europeans were identified by Sarah Rogers, the under secretary of state for public diplomacy, in a series of posts on social media. They include the leaders of organizations that address digital hate and a former European Union commissioner who clashed with tech billionaire Elon Musk over broadcasting an online interview with Donald Trump.
Rubio’s statement said they advanced foreign government censorship campaigns against Americans and US companies, which he said created “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences” for the US.
The action to bar them from the US is part of a Trump administration campaign against foreign influence over online speech, using immigration law rather than platform regulations or sanctions.
The five Europeans named by Rogers are: Imran Ahmed, chief executive of the Center for Countering Digital Hate; Josephine Ballon and Anna-Lena von Hodenberg, leaders of HateAid, a German organization; Clare Melford, who runs the Global Disinformation Index; and former EU Commissioner Thierry Breton, who was responsible for digital affairs.
Rogers in her post on X called Breton, a French business executive and former finance minister, the “mastermind” behind the EU’s Digital Services Act, which imposes a set of strict requirements designed to keep Internet users safe online. This includes flagging harmful or illegal content like hate speech.
She referred to Breton warning Musk of a possible “amplification of harmful content” by broadcasting his livestream interview with Trump in August 2024 when he was running for president.
Breton responded Tuesday on X by noting that all 27 EU members voted for the Digital Services Act in 2022. “To our American friends: ‘Censorship isn’t where you think it is,’” he wrote.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said France condemns the visa restrictions on Breton and the four others. Also posting on X, he said the DSA was adopted to ensure that “what is illegal offline is also illegal online.” He said it “has absolutely no extraterritorial reach and in no way concerns the United States.”
Most Europeans are covered by the Visa Waiver Program, which means they don’t necessarily need visas to come into the country. They do, however, need to complete an online application prior to arrival under a system run by the Department of Homeland Security, so it is possible that at least some of these five people have been flagged to DHS, a US official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss details not publicly released.
Other visa restriction policies were announced this year, along with bans targeting foreign visitors from certain African and Middle Eastern countries and the Palestinian Authority. Visitors from some countries could be required to post a financial bond when applying for a visa.
