Russia halts wartime deal allowing Ukraine to ship grain

The Black Sea Initiative that has allowed millions of tonnes of grain and other foodstuffs to leave Ukraine’s ports, playing an “indispensable role” in global food security, will not be extended, according to TASS news agency.

“The Black Sea agreements are no longer in effect. The deadline, as the Russian president said earlier, is July 17. Unfortunately, the part of the Black Sea agreement that concerns Russia has not yet been fulfilled. As a result, it has been terminated,” says Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

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

Peskov says the decision not to extend the grain deal was taken before “the recent terrorist act on the Crimean Bridge,” and this attack does not influence Moscow´s decision, as the news agency reports.

The clock was ticking down on Monday on the deal that allows Ukraine to export its grain via the Black Sea, with the agreement set to expire at midnight.

The agreement was supposed to be renewed today as its renewal day was 17th of July.

The Black Sea Initiative’s initial duration was for 120 days starting on 22 July 2022. It was renewed by all parties on 18 November for another 120 days.

On 17 March, all parties agreed to its renewal, but Russia only agreed to a 60-day extension pending review. On 18 May, Russia confirmed its participation in the deal for another 60 days. As a result, the deal has reached its deadline and should have been extended by Monday.

Russian officials have said earlier this month that they could block the extension of the grain deal, complaining that parts allowing Russian exports have gone unfulfilled.

The Initiative has allowed the World Food Programme (WFP) to transport more than 725,000 tonnes of wheat to help people in need in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. Ukraine supplied more than half of WFP’s wheat grain in 2022, as was the case in 2021.

Nearly one year into the agreement, more than 32 million tonnes of food commodities have been exported from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports to 45 countries across three continents.