Russia halts Black Sea grain deal

Russia has halted participation in the year-old U.N.-brokered deal which lets Ukraine export grain through the Black Sea just hours after a blast knocked out Russia’s bridge to Crimea.

“In fact, the Black Sea agreements ceased to be valid today,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call.

“Unfortunately, the part of these Black Sea agreements concerning Russia has not been implemented so far, so its effect is terminated.” Peskov said.

He said the decision not to renew the deal was unrelated to the overnight attack on Crimea bridge which he called a “terrorist act” and blamed on Ukraine.

The Ukrainian military suggested the attack could be some kind of provocation by Russia itself but Ukrainian media cited unidentified sources as saying that Ukraine’s Security Service was behind the incident.

Russia had threatened to quit the pact because it has said its demands to improve its own grain and fertilizer exports have not been met. Russia has also complained that not enough grain has reached poor countries.

The United Nations has argued that the arrangement has benefited those states by helping lower food prices more than 20% globally.

“As soon as the Russian part of the agreements is fulfilled, the Russian side will return to the implementation of this deal, immediately,” Peskov added.

Russia has notified Turkey, Ukraine and the U.N. that Moscow is against extending the deal, Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for Russia’s foreign ministry, said.

Putin said last week that the parts of the deal relating to Russia had not been implemented and that Russia would return to the deal once its conditions were met.

To convince Russia to agree to the Black Sea deal, a three-year deal was also struck in July 2022 under which U.N. officials agreed to help Russia get its food and fertilizer exports to foreign markets.

Russia and Ukraine are two of the world’s top agricultural producers, and major players in the wheat, barley, maize, rapeseed, rapeseed oil, sunflower seed and sunflower oil markets. Russia is also dominant in the fertiliser market.

Cynical move 

European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called Russia’s decision to suspend a Black Sea grain export deal a “cynical move”, adding that the EU would continue to work towards ensuring food security for poor countries.

Also Read: Black Sea grain deal to expire if Russia quits

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said that he believed Russian President Vladimir Putin wants the continuation of the deal, adding that he will discuss it when they meet in person in August.

Denys Marchuk, deputy head of the Ukrainian Agrarian Council, the main agribusiness organisation in Ukraine, said alternative routes such as river ports were more expensive to use in terms of transportation costs.

However, he expected a solution. “As an option, why don’t we assess the possibility of the continuation of the grain deal without Russia? We had experience of this already in November 2022,” he added.