The U.N. Secretary-General, the European Union, the U.S. and Germany expressed concern after Russia announced its withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative after claiming that "none of Moscow's demands have been met."

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres regretted Moscow's decision.

"Today's decision by the Russian Federation will strike a blow to people in need everywhere," Guterres told reporters.

"Hundreds of millions of people face hunger and consumers are confronting a global cost-of-living crisis. They will pay the price," he added.

Guterres said that the U.N. will still try to facilitate unimpeded access to global markets for food, fertilizers from Ukraine and Russia.

The European Union's top diplomat Josep Borrell blasted Russia for pulling out of of the international deal that allows grain exports from war-torn Ukraine.

"I have to blame Russia for this decision," Borrell said, describing the move as "completely unjustified" on the sidelines of an EU summit with leaders of the Caribbean and Latin America.

"This is something very serious that will create a lot of [problems] to many people around the world," he said.

The EU foreign policy chief also dismissed repeated Russian claims that EU sanctions prevent agricultural exports as "complete nonsense."

The White House said that Russia's suspension of a pact that has allowed the Black Sea export of grain from Ukraine "will worsen food security and harm millions."

"We urge the Government of Russia to immediately reverse its decision," White House National Security Council spokesperson Adam Hodge said in a statement.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also said that Russia's refusal to extend the agreement that has enabled Ukraine to export grain from its Black Sea ports for the past year "sends a bad message" to the rest of the world.

"The fact that Russia does not want to extend the grain agreement sends a bad message ... to the rest of the world," Scholz said at a two-day EU-CELAC summit in Brussels.

"But everyone will understand what is behind it, namely an action that has a lot to do with the fact that Russia does not feel responsible for good coexistence in the world," he said.

Russia refused to renew the grain deal beyond July 17, with the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying: "Unfortunately, the part relating to Russia in this Black Sea agreement has not been implemented so far."

Russia was seeking the removal of obstacles to its fertilizer exports in order to agree to another extension of the grain deal including the inclusion of its state-owned Russian Agricultural Bank in the SWIFT international payment system.


A year ago, Türkiye, the U.N., Russia, and Ukraine signed an agreement in Istanbul to resume grain exports from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports which had been paused after the Russia-Ukraine war began that February.


The deal has been renewed several times since then, and it was extended for another two months on May 18.


Moscow also withdrew Russian security guarantees of navigation in the northwestern part of the Black Sea.

The deal ensured the safe passage of over 32 million metric tons of food commodities from Ukrainian ports, according to the U.N.

The World Food Program shipped more than 725,000 tons to support humanitarian operations-relieving hunger in some of the hardest-hit corners of the world, including Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa and Yemen.