The Security Council rejects a Russian draft resolution, and Zelensky commented on the resumption of grain exports

On Wednesday evening, the UN Security Council rejected a draft resolution submitted by Russia to investigate what it called Washington and Kiev's non-compliance with the Biological Weapons Convention, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced his position after Moscow announced the resumption of the grain export agreement.

Russia failed to persuade the Security Council to launch a formal investigation into its accusation that the United States and Ukraine had developed biological weapons programs in Ukraine, a claim both Washington and Kiev deny.

Last March, the Security Council held an emergency session at the request of Russia to discuss the biological weapons file in Ukraine, after Moscow accused Kyiv and Washington of manufacturing biological weapons to spread deadly diseases through animals, which the United States and Ukraine denied.

Russia accuses the Kyiv government of running, in cooperation with Washington, laboratories in Ukraine with the aim of producing biological weapons, and Moscow asked the US administration to explain to the world why it supports what it describes as a military biological program in Ukraine, which includes causing deadly diseases such as plague and anthrax through migratory birds between Ukraine and Russia.

Russia had previously accused in 2018 the United States of secretly conducting biological experiments in a laboratory in Georgia, which, like Ukraine, a former Soviet republic seeking to join both NATO and the European Union.

In this context, the US delegate to the United Nations, Linda Thomas Greenfield, considered that Russia has become isolated in the international organization and has been condemned for what it has done in Ukraine.

Greenfield added in an interview with Al Jazeera that the United Nations responded strongly to the Russian war on Ukraine.

Since last February 24, Russia has been waging a war against its neighbor Ukraine under the pretext of disarming the weapons that pose a threat to Russian security, and Kyiv's preparation for an attack on the separatist forces backed by Moscow in the east.

Grain export and Putin's comments

Earlier on Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that Moscow would resume the grain agreement, which expires on November 19, adding that thanks to the United Nations and Turkey, Russia was able to obtain written guarantees from the Ukrainian side.

On Saturday, Moscow suspended its participation in the grain agreement after accusing Kiev of carrying out a march attack on its fleet based in Sebastopol Bay in the Crimea, which it annexed since 2014.

The Kremlin explained that Moscow stipulated a return to the grain deal, to allow the passage of its products, and to stop Kyiv's use of the safe passage for military objectives.

For his part, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that his country reserves the right to withdraw from the grain export agreement, if Ukraine violates the guarantees.

Putin added that Moscow demanded that Kyiv provide guarantees that it will not repeat the attacks in the Black Sea, explaining that if his country withdraws from the deal, it will not prevent the export of grain from Ukraine to Turkey in the future.

Erdogan (left) announced that he agreed with Putin that the grain would go to Africa first (Reuters)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had announced that he had agreed with Putin that the grain would go to Africa first.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Infrastructure said that during the past two days, 15 ships loaded with Ukrainian grain crossed the Black Sea passage, and two empty ships returned to Ukrainian ports to load grain.

The Ukrainian Ministry indicated that three ships left yesterday, loaded with 85,000 tons of agricultural products, while the Ukrainian ports received two loading ships.

The ministry added that the efforts of Turkey and the United Nations resulted in increasing the number of inspection groups in the Turkish Bosphorus Strait to ten, to speed up the inspections of incoming and outgoing ships within the framework of the grain initiative.

Zelensky thanked his Turkish counterpart for his contribution to "maintaining" the grain export agreement (Reuters)

Zelensky's comments and Washington's position

In the same regard, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked his Turkish counterpart for his contribution to "preserving" the grain export agreement concluded with Russia, after Moscow announced its return to compliance with it.

Zelensky confirmed on social media that he "thanked the Turkish president, during a phone conversation with him, for his active contribution to preserving the agreement on grain," adding, "We achieved an important diplomatic result for our country and for the whole world."

On Tuesday, Erdogan held talks with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, as part of mediation efforts he led between Kyiv and Moscow.

For its part, the United States on Wednesday welcomed Russia's return to the agreement, and urged Moscow to extend it later this month.

US State Department spokesman Ned Price praised the mediation of the United Nations and Turkey, but said it was important "not only to restore the deal, but also to extend it later this month."

"This will ultimately lead to more predictability and stability in this market and, most importantly, pressure to lower prices" in the global food market, he told reporters.