Russia suspends agreement with Ukraine on grain exports by sea and wants to block ports again. The Russians cite drone attacks on their Black Sea fleet as the reason. Kyiv immediately reacted with sharp criticism.
According to Russia, it has suspended the agreement on the export of Ukrainian grain, which was concluded to contain a global food crisis. The Defense Ministry in Moscow explained the move on Saturday in the online service Telegram with the attack on its Black Sea fleet in the Crimean peninsula annexed by Russia, which it described as an “act of terrorism carried out by the regime in Kyiv with the participation of British experts”. Representatives of Ukraine and the UN demanded the continuation of the agreement.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba accused Russia of using an “excuse” to block the grain export corridor that “enables food security for millions of people”. Kuleba called on the international community in the short message service Twitter to call on Moscow to “end its Hunger Games” and to “meet its commitments” again.
A spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres said after the Russian announcement that it was “vital” that “all parties refrain from any action” that would jeopardize the agreement. The agreement is of “key humanitarian importance” and will have a positive impact on access to food for millions of people worldwide. The Office of the Secretary General is in contact with the Russian authorities on the issue.
Russia stops grain deal – without informing Turkey
The grain agreement was signed on July 22 in the Turkish metropolis with the mediation of Turkey and the UN and was considered a key contribution to alleviating the global food crisis triggered by the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. Thanks to the agreement, nine million tons of grain had already been exported from Ukraine. The agreement was supposed to be extended on November 19th. Compliance is monitored by an international coordination center in Istanbul.
Turkish security circles told the AFP news agency on Saturday that the government in Ankara had “not yet been officially informed” by Moscow about Russia’s withdrawal from the grain agreement.
According to the governor of the largest city in Crimea, Mikhail Rasvoyaev, the attacks on the Russian Black Sea Fleet, with which Moscow justified its withdrawal, were the “heaviest attacks” with drones on the Russian-occupied peninsula since the beginning the widespread Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
The target of the attacks on the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol with drones and “remote-controlled surface vehicles” were also ships that were used to protect the grain convoys, the Defense Ministry said. Sevastopol is the home port and main base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. The city also plays a central role in the logistics of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
Kremlin blames Britain for attacks – London denies
On Saturday, Moscow accused Great Britain of British “specialists” being involved both in the attack on the Black Sea Fleet and in the “terrorist attack” on the German-Russian Nord Stream natural gas pipeline on September 26. Moscow announced that it would address the attacks before the UN Security Council. Russia wants to “draw the attention of the international community, particularly through the UN Security Council,” to the “series of terrorist attacks against Russia in the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea” and also address the “Britain’s involvement,” said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, on Telegram.
Great Britain rejected the allegations. In order to distract from the “disastrous failure in the illegal invasion of Ukraine”, the Russian Ministry of Defense uses “false claims of epic proportions,” the British Ministry of Defense wrote on Twitter. The “fictional story” reveals more about “disputes within the Russian government than about the West.”
Note: This article has been updated with reactions from Kyiv, Istanbul and London.
Source: Stern
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