The grain agreement: how the world reacted to the withdrawal of russian federation

On Saturday, October 29, russia decided to suspend its participation in the grain agreement – allegedly because of “an attack on a ship of the Black Sea Fleet.” The withdrawal of russian federation caused an indignant reaction in the political and economic communities. USM tells how the world reacted to russia’s statement.

On the morning of Saturday, October 29, several explosions occurred in Sevastopol Bay. The Ministry of Defense of russia claims that the attack was allegedly carried out by Ukrainian drones, which “slightly damaged” the sea minesweeper “Ivan Golubets” and the boom barrier of Pivdenna Bay.

“Taking into account the terrorist act carried out on October 29 by the Kyiv regime with the participation of specialists from Great Britain against the ships of the Black Sea Fleet and civilian vessels involved in ensuring the security of the grain corridor, the russian side suspends participation in the implementation of agreements on the export of agricultural products from Ukrainian ports,” – precisely the following formulation was made by the russian Ministry of Defense.

How did Ukraine react?

The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, called the russian federation’s statement predictable and called on the world to react strongly. The head of the state noted that in reality this is not a new decision of the russians.

“Russia began deliberately sharpening the food crisis back in September, when it blocked the movement of ships with our food. From September to today, 176 vessels have already gathered in the grain corridor, and cannot pass their route. Some grain carriers have been waiting for three weeks,” Zelenskyi said in his video message.

According to him, there is an absolutely deliberate blockade by russia, a clear threat to bring back the risk of large-scale famine for Africa and Asia.

“For more than seven million consumers, access to food is really deteriorating. Algeria, Egypt, Yemen, Bangladesh, Vietnam – these and other countries from different parts of the world; they can equally be destabilized due to the Russian decision to block exports,” Zelenskyi said.

He emphasized that the actions of the russian federation require a strong reaction from the world.

“Now a strong international reaction is needed both at the UN level and at other levels, in particular at the level of the G20,” the president said, adding that russia doesn’t belong in the G20.

The head of Ukraine also reminded that during the validity of the grain agreement, russia struck at least twice the naval forces of Ukraine, which guarantee the security of the grain corridor.

The Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that due to russia’s blocking of the “grain corridor”, the ship that was supposed to deliver 40,000 tons of grain for the people of Ethiopia did not leave the Ukrainian port today.

“The photo shows the ship Ikaria Angel with 40,000 tons of grain. It was supposed to leave today from the Ukrainian port with cargo for the people of Ethiopia, who are on the verge of starvation. But due to russia’s blocking of the grain corridor, export is impossible,”Kubrakov wrote on Twitter.

Commenting on this statement, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, noted that russia had long been looking for an excuse to block the operation of the grain corridor from Ukraine.

“We warned about the plans of russian federation to disrupt the Black Sea Grain Initiative. Now Moscow is blocking the grain corridor, which ensures food security for millions of people, under a contrived pretext. I call on all states to demand that russian federation stop the hunger games and return to its obligations,” Kuleba emphasized.

The Office of the President of Ukraine said that they are waiting for the reaction of Turkey and the UN to russian statements about withdrawing from the “grain initiative”.

“The signatories are russia, Turkey and the UN. Ukraine has not signed any agreements with russia, because it understands that it almost never fulfills its obligations. Therefore, we are waiting for the reaction of the signatories,” said Serhiy Nikiforov, the spokesman of the President of Ukraine.

How did world leaders react?

“The grain corridor from the ports of Great Odesa currently provides a solution to the global food crisis,” said the High Representative of the European Union, Josep Borrell, on Twitter.

According to him, the European Union calls on russia to return to the “grain agreement”.

“Russia’s decision to suspend its participation in the Black Sea Agreement puts at risk the main export route of much-needed grain and fertilizer to solve the global food crisis caused by its war against Ukraine,” said Josep Borrell.

The UN said that it is negotiating with the russian authorities after its announcement to withdraw from the “grain agreement”.

“We have seen the message of russian federation about the suspension of their participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative after the attack on the Black Sea Fleet of russian federation. We are in contact with the russian authorities on this matter. It is vital that all parties refrain from any action that could jeopardize the Black Sea Grains Initiative, which is a vital humanitarian effort that clearly has a positive impact on access to food for millions of people around the world,” said UN spokesperson Stefan Dujarric.

Turkey has not yet provided any official comments.

Waiting for new decisions

It will be recalled that at the beginning of October, russia sent UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres a list of demands and stated that it may withdraw from the grain corridor agreement if they are not fulfilled.

Since mid-October, russian inspectors of the Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul have significantly extended inspections of ships bound for Ukrainian ports. According to the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine, there are currently 175 ships near the Bosphorus. In this regard, Ukrainian ports are forced to work at only 25-30% of their capacity. Although the Odesa, Chornomorsk and Pivdennyi seaports have shipped 403 vessels since the beginning of the grain initiative, the volume of shipments of agricultural products amounted to more than 9.1 million tons.

As Andrii Klymenko, head of the Institute of Strategic Black Sea Studies, said on Facebook, on October 29, nine ships (five on departure and four on arrival) safely passed through the maritime humanitarian corridor established by the SCC. More than a dozen ships, both for departure and arrival, are waiting to enter the corridor.

Klymenko reported that no common agreement has been reached in SCC regarding the movement of vessels for arrival and departure on October 30. He also added that the SCC is currently reviewing the latest developments and discussing next steps.

In general, there are currently 10 ships waiting to leave in the port of Chornomorsk; in the port of Odesa – 3 vessels, and in the port of Pivdennyi – 6 vessels.

Ruslan Soroka.