The Sierra Leone-flagged cargo ship Razoni, carrying Ukrainian grain, is seen within the Black Sea off Kilyos, near Istanbul, Turkey August 3, 2022.
Mehmet Caliskan | Reuters
WASHINGTON – Moscow suspended its participation within the Black Sea Grain Initiative, an agreement brokered earlier this 12 months that reopened Ukrainian ports for agricultural product export.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense said on Saturday that it might halt participation, citing retaliation for Kyiv’s “act of terrorism” against Russian warships. Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Ukrainian armed forces launched “massive air and sea strikes using unmanned aerial vehicles against ships and infrastructure of the Russian Black Sea Fleet on the naval base in Sevastopol.”
Russia also said British operators helped Ukraine’s military perform the predawn attack, adding that not less than 15 drones were involved.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Russia was using the attack as a “false pretext” for blocking the “grain corridor which ensures food security for hundreds of thousands of individuals.”
“We have now warned of Russia’s plans to destroy the Black Sea Grain Initiative,” Kuleba wrote in a tweet. “I call on all states to demand Russia to stop its hunger games and recommit to its obligations.”
Before the war, Ukraine and Russia accounted for nearly 1 / 4 of worldwide grain exports until those shipments got here to a severe halt for nearly six months.
Ukraine is usually the world’s top producer and exporter of sunflower meal, oil and seed, in keeping with the United States Department of Agriculture. Ukraine can be the world’s seventh-largest wheat producer.
The grain harvester collects wheat on the sphere near the village of Zgurivka within the Kyiv region, while Russia continues the war against Ukraine. August 9, 2022.
Maxym Marusenko | Nurphoto | Getty Images
The Black Sea Grain Initiative, a United Nations-backed deal brokered in July, eased Russia’s naval blockade and saw the reopening of three key Ukrainian ports. The primary vessel left Ukraine’s port of Odesa on Aug. 1 carrying greater than 26,000 metric tons of corn. Since then, nearly 400 ships carrying a complete of 9 million metric tons have departed Ukraine’s ports.
Of the 40 countries receiving Ukrainian foodstuffs from the initiative, Spain has accepted the vast majority of agricultural products totaling 1.8 million metric tons.
Representatives from Ukraine, Russia, the U.N. and Turkey held negotiations to create the ocean corridor in Istanbul earlier this 12 months and signed the landmark deal in July. The agreement, which is ready to run out next month, has helped address the mounting food crisis triggered, partly, by Russia’s war on its ex-Soviet neighbor.
The U.N. said in a press release that they’re in contact with Russian authorities on the matter.
 “It’s critical that each one parties refrain from any motion that might imperil the Black Sea Grain Initiative which is a critical humanitarian effort that’s clearly having a positive impact on access to food for hundreds of thousands of individuals all over the world,” wrote Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the U.N. Secretary-General, in a press release.
Russia’s foreign ministry said that it delivered relevant instructions to the Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul, which oversees the export of agricultural products from Ukraine.
