President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia is suspending, but not terminating, its involvement in an agreement that provides safe passage to grain-carrying vessels carrying Ukrainian goods.
On Saturday, Moscow withdrew from the accord mediated by the United Nations, stating that Ukraine had used a Black Sea safety corridor to strike its fleet.
The United Nations reports that no ships were in the corridor that night.
The incident has not been attributed to Ukraine.
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine stated that the agreement would be honored and accused Russia of “blackmailing the world with famine,” which Russia rejects.
Monday saw the departure of 12 ships carrying 354,500 tonnes of food, including grain, from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, according to the country’s infrastructure ministry. This represented a record level of exports since the beginning of the grain contract, according to a representative for Odesa’s military government, which was reported by Reuters.
The infrastructure ministry stated that one of the ships carrying 40,000 tonnes of grain was bound for Ethiopia, where “the serious threat of widespread hunger” existed.
After Russia invaded Ukraine in February, its navy established a blockade on Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, preventing the export of around 20 million tonnes of grain and other agricultural products such as maize and sunflower oil.
But in July, Turkey and the United Nations secured an agreement between Ukraine and Russia to begin grain exports through the Black Sea ports.
On Monday, however, President Putin announced the suspension of the agreement, citing Ukraine’s purported “massive” drone strike on Russia’s fleet in Crimea.
He stated that maritime safety must be ensured and that grain exports under such conditions are too risky to accomplish.
Mr. Putin stated in a televised address that Ukraine must assure there will be no danger to civilian vessels.
Kyiv has not accepted responsibility for the strike, claiming that Moscow had long planned to leave the international agreement and used the attack as an excuse to do so.
Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, stated, “Under conditions in which Russia is asserting the difficulties of guaranteeing the safety of shipping in these areas, such an agreement is not practicable, and it takes on a different character – one that is considerably more risky, dangerous, and uncertain.”
The United States blasted Russia’s withdrawal from the agreement, claiming Moscow was “weaponizing food.”
Josep Borrell, the EU’s chief of foreign policy, has asked Russia to change its decision, arguing that endangering the shipment of grain and fertilizers would exacerbate the worldwide food crisis.
According to the Russian ambassador to the United States, it is unjust to criticize Russia for aggravating the global food crisis.
Russia says it has expanded its evacuations of the seized Kherson region, despite claiming over the weekend that they had ended.
