Page 8 - RusRPTAug23

2.0 Politics
2.1 Russia pulls out of Black Sea grain deal
Russia announced its withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative on July 17, effectively terminating a deal that had helped to keep global food prices stable, BMB Russia reports.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov commented that Moscow decided to pull out of the initiative because “the part of the agreement concerning Russia has not been implemented.” On Wednesday, President Putin said that Moscow will consider reentering the deal only when Russian conditions are met, including the removal of any obstacles to the export of Russian grain and fertilisers, the reconnection of Russian banks to the SWIFT system, and the lifting of any banking restrictions. In response, Ukraine’s President Zelenskiy called to continue the Black Sea Grain deal without Russia.
Following their withdrawal from the deal, Russia also announced that any ships seen traveling to Ukrainian ports will automatically be considered “potential carriers of military cargo.” “Accordingly, the flag countries of such ships will be considered involved in the Ukrainian conflict on the side of the Kyiv regime,” the Defence Ministry’s statement said. This means that ship owners may be reluctant to use the Black Sea shipping route despite Zelenskiy’s insistence that the deal can continue without Russia. On the European stock exchange, wheat prices jumped by more than 8% following this announcement. Countries that rely heavily on Ukrainian grain, such as Lebanon, Pakistan, Libya, and Ethiopia, will be particularly affected.
The US and EU condemned Russia’s decision to withdraw from the agreement. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken commented that Russia’s actions will make food “harder to come by in places that desperately need it, and have prices rise.” The grain initiative was important for global food security; through the agreement, the UN World Food Programme was able to ship more than 725,000 tonnes of Ukrainian grain to countries facing acute hunger. In total, almost 33mn tonnes were exported from Ukraine under the deal, the largest shares of which went to China, Spain, and Turkey.
Since their withdrawal from the deal, Russia has been attacking Ukrainian port cities with drones and missiles. Air strikes have continued for three days, leaving dozens wounded in Odesa, Mykolaiv, and Nikolaev. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov called these strikes “retaliation strikes” for the attack on the Crimean bridge that took place on Monday.
Early on July 19, grain terminals in Odesa and Chornomorsk were attacked, destroying 60,000 tonnes of grain. Following this strike, President Zelenskiy ordered Ukraine's military to strengthen the protection of port infrastructure. He also told the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to intensify contact with international partners to increase pressure on Russia to ensure that grain exports continue.
8 RUSSIA Country Report August 2023 www.intellinews.com