US State Department spokesman Ned Price said the US was rejecting Russia’s proposals to lift sanctions in exchange for unblocking access to Ukrainian ports.
He said this at a briefing on Wednesday.
“Of course, we will not lift sanctions in response to empty promises. And we have heard empty promises from the Russian Federation before. I think we have reason to be skeptical when we have heard various promises and proposals from Russia,” Price said.
He called it appalling that Russia seeks to use food and energy as a weapon.
“The fastest solution to the problem of rising prices for raw materials, rising food prices around the world is the end of this cruel war by the Russians, the end of the Russian blockade of the ports of Ukraine, the end of attacks on grain elevators, the end of attacks on ships with grain,” Price added.
He dismissed Russia’s claim that it was the sanctions against it that caused the food crisis, saying Russia was engaging in disinformation.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba urged not to succumb to Russia’s blackmail about a “corridor” for the Ukrainian harvest from the Black Sea in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.
VIDEO OF THE DAY
On May 25, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that they were ready to provide a humanitarian corridor for the export of Ukrainian crops through the Black Sea – in exchange for the lifting of sanctions and the “clearing of mines by Ukraine” of the Black Sea, which Russia itself replaced in the first month of a full-scale invasion.