Russian participation in a crucial agreement with Ukraine that permitted the export of Ukrainian grain has been suspended, raising questions about the world’s food supply and scuttling a rare diplomatic achievement from Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
The deal, which Turkey and the UN mediated in July 2022, was scheduled to end on Monday at 5:00 p.m. ET. Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, stated that Russia would not at this time renew the agreement because it “has been terminated.”
Peskov cited Russia’s complaint that it is being hindered from adequately exporting its own foodstuffs as the justification for pulling out of the agreement.
The main goal of the agreement, which was to supply grain to impoverished nations, was not achieved, and Russia encountered difficulties in exporting its own food. Peskov said that Russia will comply “as soon as the Russian part (of the deal) is completed,” leaving the door open to reviving the agreement in the future.
Because Ukraine is a major supplier of grain to the World Food Programme, the war on the world’s food markets was immediate and excruciating (WFP).
At the time, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) issued a warning that the war could cause up to 47 million people to experience “acute food insecurity.”
Moscow had previously threatened to back out of the agreement, but after mediation, Moscow changed its mind. Alternative rail routes through eastern Europe are not easily able to handle the volume that Ukraine wants to export of grain and oilseeds.
