Food Security Must Not Become a Tool of Political Pressure, Russian Ambassador Says

Dragon Media News Desk

Russian Ambassador to Indonesia Sergei Tolchenov has outlined his views on food shipments through the Black Sea, maritime safety and global food security. In an article published in The Jakarta Post on November 11, he argued that debate over food security should be based on verifiable facts rather than political allegations.

Tolchenov said claims that Russia had obstructed Ukraine’s agricultural exports ignored the terms, implementation and eventual end of the Black Sea Grain Initiative. Launched in 2022 with the participation of Russia, Ukraine, Türkiye and the United Nations, the initiative established a safe route for food exports from Ukrainian ports. A parallel memorandum was intended to facilitate Russian food and fertiliser exports. The UN reported that about 32.8 million tonnes of food were shipped to global markets under the initiative, which ended in July 2023.

The ambassador said that during the initiative’s first year, about 70 percent of the exported food went to high- and upper-middle-income economies, while EU member states received 40 percent of all shipments. His article said African countries received 4.1 million tonnes, including 780,000 tonnes for sub-Saharan Africa. He cited these figures as evidence of a gap between the initiative’s humanitarian aims and the actual distribution of the food.

The UN’s operational update for 2023 reported that 46 percent of exports went to Asia, 40 percent to Western Europe and 12 percent to Africa. It referred to “Western Europe,” rather than “EU member states.” The UN also reported that high- and upper-middle-income countries received 90 percent of the corn and 60 percent of the wheat. Total destinations, income groups and humanitarian deliveries are separate measures.

Tolchenov also accused Ukraine of attacking commercial and civilian vessels in the Black and Azov seas with drones and unmanned surface vessels. According to figures he attributed to the Russian side, since the start of the war, 331 unmanned aerial vehicles, 40 unmanned surface vessels and two Neptune missiles have been used in such attacks. He said 18 crew members had been killed and 228 civilian vessels damaged. These figures are the ambassador’s account of Russian data and have not been independently verified.

The ambassador also cited drone attacks on tankers near the Caspian Pipeline Consortium’s oil export terminal last July, linking the incidents to maritime safety and the protection of critical infrastructure. The consortium and news organisations reported attacks on vessels near the terminal during that period. Tolchenov criticised the European Union for not publicly condemning the incidents. He argued that freedom of navigation and the protection of critical infrastructure should not be guided by political considerations.

His article emphasised the importance to Indonesia and other food-importing countries of affordable staples, predictable shipping and unrestricted access to reliable suppliers. Food security, he concluded, should remain a shared objective rather than a tool of geopolitical pressure.