MUKACHEVO, Ukraine — Kyiv officials accused Russia on Monday of sabotaging a deal allowing Ukrainian grain to be exported to international markets, saying that the agreement was under threat of “shutdown.”
“Russia is trying to choke Ukraine’s economy and slow the flow of food instead of abiding by the terms of its agreement,” Brink wrote.
Under the terms of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, brokered by the United Nations last summer, Russia is supposed to allow free passage for ships carrying grain from three Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea, and then traveling onward through the Bosporus strait.
However, Ukraine’s Ministry of Development of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure — tasked with managing the consequences of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than a year ago — said Russian representatives were preventing inspections of ships docked in Istanbul.
A statement on the ministry’s Facebook page said Russian members of a joint coordinating committee had “unilaterally stopped registering vessels” for required inspection.
“As a result, for the second time in nine months of operation of the Grain Initiative, an inspection plan has not been drawn up, and not a single vessel has been inspected,” the statement said. “This threatens the functioning of the Grain Initiative.”
In a separate tweet, Brink highlighted a shipment of Ukrainian grain to Yemen last month that she said would “feed 4 million people,” demonstrating the ability of Ukrainian farmers to “feed the world.”
Josep Borrell, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, also tweeted that Moscow was not living up to its obligations. “Russia is once again blocking 50 ships with urgently needed grain in the Black Sea,” Borrell wrote.
Russian officials have not commented on Ukrainian and Western officials’ accusations, but they have voiced displeasure over the grain agreement and suggested it may not be extended. When the deal was last up for a 120-day renewal, on March 18, Russia would only agree to extend it for 60 days.
But at a meeting with African leaders in Moscow last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin insisted that Russia was fulfilling its obligations but warned that it was prepared to cancel the agreement if its requirements are not met.
“Guided by the needs of primarily African countries, Russia recently agreed to prolong for another 60 days the agreement concluded in Istanbul on the export of Ukrainian food through the Black Sea and the unblocking of Russian agricultural exports and supplies of fertilizers,” Putin said.
“At the same time,” he added, “We insist on full compliance with key Russian requirements.”
Putin alleged, without providing evidence, that 45 percent of the grain being shipped from Ukraine was going to “well-fed European countries” and only 3 percent was going to poor countries in Africa.
“I emphasize that only if our position is taken into account will a fair and comprehensive implementation of the Black Sea ‘grain deal’ be ensured,” he said.
Moscow has also criticized a separate deal to facilitate Russian food and fertilizer exports.
In its post on Monday, Ukraine’s Development Ministry said Russian officials “without explanation” refused to register three vessels that were scheduled to pick up cargo in the Ukrainian port of Pivdennyi and then travel to China.
“This is another … attempt [by Russia] to dictate its policies to the world, endanger food security, and use food as a weapon,” the ministry said.