Russia will officially withdraw from a UN-brokered deal intended to allow the export of vital grain through ports on the Black Sea, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov announced on Monday.
The Kremlin announced that the deal had “de facto” ended, while hopes remain that Russia may rejoin the deal following promising negotiations from grain deal partner Turkey. At a press conference on Monday, Turkish President Recep Erdoğan said that he was confident that Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin wants to “continue the agreement.”
“I think that despite today’s declaration, my friend Mr Putin wants to continue the humanitarian agreement,” he said before a state trip to Israel.
The deal, originally signed between Russia, Ukraine, and Turkey, allowed cargo ships to pass through the Russian-blockaded Black Sea from the ports of Odesa, Chornomorsk, and Yuzhny/Pivdennyi.
For its part, Russia frequently complained that the agreement was being exploited to facilitate shipments of grain to richer countries, whereas the deal was intended to help support poor countries most at risk of starvation. Russia also believes that parts of the deal that allowed Russia to continue to export food and fertilisers had not been respected.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov repeated these grievances on Monday, accusing the West of “open sabotage” and putting commercial interests ahead of humanitarian aid. Russia has made a series of unsubstantiated claims about the grain deal, even stating that Ukrainian cargo ships had been used to target Crimea with drones.
#BSGI should continue regardless of whether rf is a member or not. This is a matter of security for the whole world. The owners of the ship companies are ready to continue working. I appeal to our @UN 🇺🇳partners & Türkiye 🇹🇷 to confirm that they are ready to continue the… pic.twitter.com/JZjzaViTb6
— Oleksandr Kubrakov (@OlKubrakov) July 17, 2023
Ukraine is one of the largest agricultural exporters in the world. With 68% of its landmass black soil – the most fertile topsoil and nutrient-rich for growing crops. Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian ports last year led to some 20 million tonnes of grain being trapped. Russia has repeatedly stolen grain from occupied Ukrainian ports, selling it on the black market.
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In response to the decision, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen accused Russia of cynicism, stating that the deal aimed to “ensure food security for the world’s vulnerable.”
Ukraine is exploring possibilities to continue to export grain through its Danube river ports.
