Russia suspends Ukraine grain export deal after attack on Crimea

INA-  SOURCES

The Russian government said it suspended indefinitely a months-old deal allowing grain shipments to leave Ukraine's ports, citing an attack on a base in occupied Crimea as the reason.

According to a statement issued Saturday by Russia's foreign ministry, Moscow “suspends participation” for an "indefinite period" in a deal brokered by the U.N. to make sure agricultural products made in Ukraine can reach global markets.

The deal is considered critical to global food security given Ukraine's role as a major producer of grain, which is then normally shipped via the Black Sea to markets worldwide, especially in Africa and the Middle East.

"The Russian side cannot guarantee the safety of civilian dry cargo ships," the foreign ministry said, citing an alleged drone attack by Ukraine on the port at Sevastopol in Crimea in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a tweet that Moscow was using a “false pretext to block the grain corridor.”  
The Russian ministry statement repeated claims made earlier in the day that British experts had supported Ukraine in the attack on Crimea, with Moscow also accusing U.K. forces of being behind explosions that critically damaged the Nord Stream gas pipeline without providing supporting evidence. London denied the claims.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, accused Russia of "blackmail" and "fictitious terror attacks."

The export deal, dubbed the Black Sea Grain Initiative, was supposed to run until November 19 when all sides would have needed to agree to extend it. The agreement enabled Ukraine to restart exports of grain and fertilizer via the Black Sea, which had been stalled when Russia invaded the country in late February.

Since the U.N.-backed grain deal was signed in Turkey on July 22, several million tons of wheat, corn, sunflower products and other grains have been shipped out of Ukraine.

The U.N., which brokered the grain deal with Turkey, said it was "in touch with the Russian authorities" regarding Moscow's suspension of the agreement. 

"It is vital that all parties refrain from any action that would imperil the Black Sea Grain Initiative which is a critical humanitarian effort," Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, said in a statement.


SOURCE: politico