International Desk: Russia has announced that it will cancel the grain agreement with Ukraine. As a result, Moscow will not allow Ukraine to export grain through the Black Sea Corridor. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow would not return to the deal until the terms of the deal were met. Moscow will immediately return to the agreement if all parties’ demands are met.
A Kremlin spokesman said at a press briefing on Monday that the previous deal was expiring “today”, but that Moscow would return to the agreement as soon as Russia’s conditions were met. The grain deal has been suspended for the time being. In August 2022, the United Nations and Turkey launched an initiative to export Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea Corridor in the context of a global food crisis to facilitate exports blocked by the war in Ukraine.
Before the deal expired on Monday, Russia said it was not getting enough benefits under the initiative. The food has been exported to 45 countries since exports began in August 2022, the United Nations said. Experts say food prices will rise if the agreement is not renewed. Regarding the suspension of the agreement, the spokeswoman of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, said that Turkey, Ukraine, and the United Nations have been informed about the cancellation of the agreement.
