The Kremlin warned Ukraine on Tuesday against trying to export its grain across the Black Sea, after Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky called for international support to continue shipments despite Russia’s withdrawal from a landmark wartime deal.
The warning came a day after Ukraine unilaterally ended a year-old agreement brokered by Russia, Turkey and the United Nations that allowed it to ship its grain by sea to Istanbul, which has imposed a de facto blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports. Beyond That decision put pressure on global grain markets and raised fears that hunger could grow more serious in some countries in Africa and the Middle East.
In the speech of the night, Mr. Zelensky said he had sent letters to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, proposing that Ukraine continue to ship its grain, whose exports are “necessary for everyone. The world.”
“The only thing that is needed now is its careful implementation and decisive pressure from the world on the terrorist state,” Mr Zelensky added, referring to Russia.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry S. Peskov said such a course posed risks and suggested that ships traveling through the Black Sea without its consent were at risk.
“We are talking about a zone very close to an armed conflict zone. Certain risks emerge without appropriate security guarantees,” said Mr. Peskov.
The government in Kyiv was accused of using the zone covered by the agreement for “military purposes” in an unspecified manner. A day earlier, Russia said it had pulled out of the deal because it could not meet its own food and fertilizer export demands.
Mr Guterres said on Monday he was “deeply disappointed” by Moscow’s decision. Millions of people suffering from hunger or hardship, as well as consumers around the world facing a cost-of-living crisis, will “pay the price,” the UN chief said.
Ukraine and its allies consider Russia’s effective blockade of the Black Sea illegal. Ukraine is a major exporter of grain and a substantial cut in its exports could further damage the country’s economy, which is already struggling to deal with the effects of a full-scale Russian invasion.
