Russian invasion
Kremlin warns against unilateral continuation of grain agreements
Cargo ships are waiting to pass through the Bosphorus Strait. photo
© Khalil Hamra/AP/dpa
Despite all international appeals, Russia is stopping the international grain agreement with Ukraine – and is warning of a continuation without Russian participation.
After the cancellation of the international agreement on the export of grain from the Ukraine across the Black Sea has warned other states against resuming the deal on their own.
A continuation without Russian participation would be risky, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to the Interfax agency. “It’s a zone immediately adjacent to the combat zone, where there are certain risks without proper security guarantees.”
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, had previously called for exports across the Black Sea to continue without Russian consent. This should be done in cooperation with the United Nations and Turkey, through whose mediation the agreement was concluded in July 2022.
Lavrov justifies the end of the grain agreement
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov defended his country’s actions against massive international criticism. In a phone call with his Turkish colleague Hakan Fidan, Lavrov once again complained about allegedly unfulfilled Russian demands in relation to his own exports, as the Foreign Ministry in Moscow announced. From the Turkish side, there were initially no details on the content of the conversation.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Monday that he wanted to change the mind of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Turkey, along with the United Nations, brokered the grain deal between Russia and Moscow-attacked Ukraine.
Pressure on food prices could increase
The Kremlin suspended the agreement concluded about a year ago on Monday. It officially expired on Monday evening. According to the EU, nearly 33 million tons of grain and other foodstuffs were exported from Ukraine across the Black Sea as a result of the initiative. Even during the war, Ukraine reportedly remained the World Food Program’s (WFP) top wheat supplier in 2022, supplying more than half of WFP’s global wheat procurement.
When the agreement expires, pressure on food prices could increase, which would particularly affect people in poorer countries. At least some of the relief is provided by trade routes specially developed by the EU and Ukraine via rivers, rails and roads. According to EU figures, 41 million tons of grain, oilseeds and other agricultural products were exported from Ukraine via the so-called solidarity corridors between the beginning of the war and the end of June.
According to EU figures, around 60 percent of Ukrainian grain exports have been handled via the solidarity routes since the beginning of the war and the remaining 40 percent via the Black Sea. It was initially unclear to what extent the solidarity trade routes could be further expanded. In addition, exporting via this route was relatively expensive in the past.