Russia pulled out of the breakthrough wartime deal allowing the safe export of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea because the agreement lost its meaning, President Vladimir Putin said Monday.
Russia’s invasion blocked Ukraine’s Black Sea ports with warships until a deal brokered by the United Nations and Türkiye and signed in July 2022 ensured the passage of critical grain shipments.
Moscow last week exited the deal after long complaining that a related agreement on allowing the export of Russian food and fertilizers had not been honored.
"The continuation of the ‘grain deal’ – which did not justify its humanitarian purpose – has lost its meaning," Putin said, according to an article published on the Kremlin’s website early Monday.
The key demands Putin presented last week for Moscow to return to the deal did not directly refer to humanitarian purposes.
After quitting the deal, Moscow said it would consider cargo ships traveling to Ukraine through the Black Sea as potential military targets. Since then, it has been pounding Ukrainian food-exporting ports nearly on a daily basis. An attack on Sunday on the southern port of Odessa killed one person and injured scores more.
In a drone attack on Monday, Russia destroyed Ukrainian grain warehouses on the Danube River and wounded seven people.
Attacks on vital Danube route
The attacks last week mostly targeted the seaports of Odessa, but Monday’s predawn strikes hit infrastructure along the Danube, an alternative export route that is vital for Kyiv after the demise of the year-old grain deal.
"The Russian terrorists have again attacked the Odessa region overnight. Port infrastructure on the Danube River is the target this time," regional governor Oleh Kiper wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
Kiper said Russia was trying to completely block exports of Ukrainian grain to global markets and "make the world starve."
Global wheat and corn futures rose sharply on concern that Russia’s attacks and more fighting, including a drone strike on Moscow, could threaten grain exports and shipping.
News website Reni-Odessa cited a local official saying that three-grain warehouses had been destroyed in the Danube port city of Reni in an attack involving about 15 drones.
Reni port, an important transport hub, looks across the Danube to NATO and European Union member Romania.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February last year, Ukraine has expanded grain exports overland via the EU to about 1 million tons a month, with large volumes being exported from Romanian ports and along the Danube.
"Russia hit another Ukrainian grain storage overnight," Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter.
"It (Russia) tries to extract concessions by holding 400 million people hostage. I urge all nations, particularly those in Africa and Asia who are most affected by rising food prices, to mount a united global response to food terrorism."
Separately, the Federal Security Service (FSB) on Monday alleged it had found traces of explosives on a foreign ship traveling to Russia to pick up grain, with Kremlin saying "increased vigilance" was needed.
The FSB said the ship had been docked in the Ukrainian port of Kiliia in May and that it may have been used to deliver explosives to Ukraine.
Africa summit
Writing ahead of the second Russia-Africa Summit and Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum that will take place in St. Petersburg on Thursday and Friday, Putin said his country would replace exports of Ukrainian grain to the continent.
He also said that Russia expects a record harvest this year.
"I want to assure that our country is able to replace Ukrainian grain both commercially and free of charge, especially since we again expect a record harvest this year," Putin wrote.
The African Union (AU) has expressed "regret" over Moscow’s decision to end the grain export deal.
Humanitarian groups say Africa is heavily reliant on grain from Russia and Ukraine.
The grain deal enabled the export of more than 32 million tons of Ukrainian grain over the last year.
Russia and the West have been increasingly vying for influence in Africa. Although Moscow has so far invested very little there, according to data from the U.N., Russia has been on a diplomatic push to win the continent’s support.
During a U.N. vote in March 2022 to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, 28 African nations voted in favor of the resolution, but 25 either voted to abstain or did not vote at all.
"Russia will continue to vigorously work on organizing the supply of grain, food, fertilizers and more to Africa: we highly value and continue to dynamically develop the entire range of economic ties with Africa," Putin wrote.