Russia said on Monday it was suspending participation in an agreement that would allow Ukraine to export grain by sea despite a wartime blockade, reversing an agreement deemed necessary to keep food prices in check. global stability.
The announcement appears to be the most severe blow to a year-old deal that is a rare example of productive negotiations between the warring nations and has helped ease some global consequences of Russia’s all-out invasion. Ukraine is a major producer of grains and other foods, and the United Nations has warned that several countries in the Middle East and Africa face hunger if Kiev cannot export its goods through the Black Sea.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitri S. Peskov told journalists on Monday that the deal was “suspended”, but added that the decision was unrelated to attack a few hours ago on the Kerch Strait bridge connecting Russia with occupied Crimea. Russian officials blamed Ukraine for the bridge attack, but Kiev did not claim responsibility.
Speaking of the grain deal, Peskov said: “As soon as the Russian part is completed, the Russian side will immediately return to the implementation of that agreement.”
Russia has repeatedly complained about the deal, which it sees as favoring Ukraine. The Russian Foreign Ministry on Monday issued a declare stressed their objections, including what they described as “Ukrainian provocations and repeated attacks on Russian military and civilian facilities” in the Black Sea region, and said that the United Nations and Ukraine’s Western allies had failed to address Russia’s demands.
“Only when it receives concrete results, and not promises and guarantees, will Russia be ready to consider restoring the ‘deal’,” the statement said.
Agreement, called Black Sea Grains Initiative and mediated by the United Nations and Türkiye, was set to expire on Monday.
The President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said he would speak with Russian President Vladimir V. Putin about the deal and expressed hope that he would agree to rejoin.
“Despite today’s statement, I believe that the president of the Russian Federation, my friend Putin, wants this humanitarian bridge to continue,” Erdogan told reporters in Istanbul.
Last week, United Nations secretary-general António Guterres sent a letter containing proposals to Mr. Putin in an attempt to meet Russia’s conditions for extending the agreement. UN and Turkish negotiators spent the weekend waiting for a response from Moscow as the clock ticked. Grain exports from Ukrainian ports fell to almost zero in the days before the deal expired.
The deal successfully eased lockdown shortages in the first months of the war, sending global wheat prices soaring. It allows Ukraine to restart the export of millions of tons of grain that has been delayed for many months and it has been extended several times, most recently in May.
However, Moscow has argued that while the deal benefits Ukraine, Western sanctions have limited sales of Russian agricultural products. In an effort to address Russia’s demands, Mr. Guterres sent Putin proposals that he said would “remove barriers affecting financial transactions” through Russia’s agricultural bank co-operative. allowed to continue shipping Ukrainian grain.
In addition to hoping for smoother financial transactions, Russia has seek assurance that would facilitate their own grain and fertilizer exports, and reopen the ammonia gas pipeline through Ukraine.
According to United Nations data, Ukraine has exported 32.8 million tons of grain and other food since the initiative began. Under the agreement, ships are allowed to pass through Russian naval vessels that have blocked Ukraine’s ports since Russia began its full-scale invasion in February 2022. The ships were inspected off the coast. Istanbul, in part to make sure they were unarmed.
Last year, Russia stopped participating in the inspections covered by the agreement, just to rejoin in a few days.
Safak Timur contribution report.
