On July 17, Moscow officially notified Ankara, Kiev, as well as the UN Secretariat, that it objected to the grain deal’s extension. According to Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov, “the Black Sea agreements have ceased to be valid.” Russia can resurrect the grain initiative as soon as its conditions are met.
The agreements on food exports from Ukraine were concluded last July and extended three times: for 120 days in November and then for two months both in March and May. The Russian side reduced the effective term of the agreement due to a number of requirements being unfulfilled, including the lifting of sanctions on the Russian Agricultural Bank and fertilizer producers. During this time, the deal’s participants planned to make progress in implementing the memorandum.
The grain deal provides for the creation of safe maritime corridors for exporting Ukrainian grain, including to the poorest countries. To this end, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the UN set up the Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul to inspect vessels with grain to thwart arms smuggling. In all, while the grain deal was in effect, Ukraine has exported more than 32.8 mln tons of grain, one third of which, 10.93 mln tons, have been sent to Asia, and 12.37 mln tons have gone to Western Europe. The largest importers during this period were China, Spain, Turkey, as well as Italy and the Netherlands. More details as to where Ukrainian grain is being sent and on the demands of the deal’s participants are in the TASS infographic.