Russia has halted its participation in a deal that allowed war-torn Ukraine to ship grain through the Black Sea to parts of the world struggling with hunger, dealing a blow to global food security after Moscow’s invasion last year sent prices soaring.
Aljazeera stated that hours before the resolve, an explosion knocked out Russia’s bridge to Crimea in what Moscow called an attack by Ukrainian sea drones, killing two people. The road bridge is a major artery for Russian troops fighting in Ukraine.
Moscow said there was no link between the attack and its decision to suspend the grain deal over what it called a failure to meet its demands to implement a parallel agreement easing rules for its own food and fertiliser exports.
The United Nations and Turkey brokered the landmark accord with Ukraine and Russia in July last year, which came with a separate agreement to facilitate shipments of Russian food and fertiliser that Moscow insists has not been applied.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday, hours before the Black Sea Grain Initiative was set to expire, that Russia would “return” to the deal “immediately” if its demands about its exports were met.
“The Black Sea agreements ceased to be valid today,” Peskov told reporters on Monday afternoon.
“Unfortunately, the part of these Black Sea agreements concerning Russia has not been implemented so far, so its effect is terminated,” he said.
More than 32 million metric tonnes of corn, wheat and other grains have been exported by Ukraine under the arrangement, with the last ship leaving Ukraine on Sunday.
