On Monday, Russia refused to continue the agreement that has allowed Ukraine to export grain from its Black Sea ports for the past year, claiming that promises to free up its exports of food and fertilizer had not been met. Russia’s Foreign Ministry stated that “without Russia’s participation, the ‘Black Sea Initiative’ ceases to function on July 18.”
This included the withdrawal of shipping safety assurances, the closure of a maritime humanitarian corridor, and the dissolution of the Joint Coordination Centre created at the Black Sea’s mouth in Istanbul to monitor the deal’s execution, according to the statement. It meant that the northeastern Black Sea would be declared as a temporary area of danger for shipping, the ministry said.
Last July, the United Nations and Turkey reached an agreement to alleviate a worldwide food crisis by allowing Ukrainian grain that had been halted by the Russia-Ukraine war to be safely shipped. To persuade Russia, a three-year memorandum of understanding was also signed with the United Nations, under which U.N. officials committed to assisting Russia with its food and fertilizer exports.
However, according to the ministry statement, none of Russia’s requirements had been met, including the resumption of ammonia exports through a pipeline connecting Russia to the Ukrainian port of Odesa and the reconnection of its state agricultural bank Rosselkhozbank to the SWIFT international payments system.
“Under these conditions of outright sabotage in the implementation of the Istanbul agreements, the continuation of the ‘Black Sea initiative’, which did not justify its humanitarian purpose, becomes meaningless,” it said.
Black Sea grain deal: Russia will not renew the agreement but may reconsider some conditions
The agreement had been renewed numerous times, but it was set to expire on Monday. For months, Russia has stated that the requirements for its extension had not been met, and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was the first to clarify that Russia would not renew it. However, he indicated that Russia would not be abandoning the agreement indefinitely.
“As soon as the Russian part of the agreements is fulfilled, the Russian side will return to the implementation of this deal immediately,” Peskov said.
The foreign ministry said: “Only upon receipt of concrete results, and not promises and assurances, will Russia be ready to consider restoring the deal.”
Peskov stated that the decision not to renew was unrelated to the midnight attack on the bridge connecting Russia and Crimea, which killed two people. “These are unrelated events. Even before the terrorist attack, the position was declared by President Putin,” Peskov said.
