Russia Considers Withdrawing from Black Sea Grain Deal Amidst Broken Promises by the West

President Vladimir Putin said today that Russia was considering withdrawing from a deal to export Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea because the West had cheated Moscow by failing to fulfill any of its promises to get Russian agricultural products to world markets, Reuters reported.

The deal, which allowed Ukraine to resume grain exports by sea, was brokered by the UN and Turkey last July to help tackle a global food crisis that the UN says has been exacerbated by Europe’s deadliest conflict after World War II.

To persuade Moscow to approve the pact, known to diplomats as the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a three-year agreement was signed in which UN officials agreed to help Russia export food and fertilizers.

But Putin said that this commitment was not fulfilled due to the treachery of the West. In response, Russia slowed grain shipments across the Black Sea.

“We are thinking of getting out of this grain deal now,” Putin said at a meeting of Russian military correspondents and military bloggers, BTA reported.

“Unfortunately, we were once again deceived – nothing was done regarding the liberalization of the supply of our grain to foreign markets. There were many conditions that the Westerners had to fulfill under the leadership of the UN. Nothing was done,” Putin added.

Western powers have imposed the toughest sanctions ever imposed on Russia over its full-scale war in Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022, Reuters recalls.

Although Russia’s food and fertilizer exports are not subject to sanctions, Western restrictions on payments, logistics and insurance create barriers to supplies, Moscow and major Russian grain and fertilizer exporters say.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said today that progress has been made by U.N. officials to iron out problems facing Russian exports, but “there are still some obstacles.”

“We are not holding all the levers of power to facilitate the export of Russian grain and fertilizers, which is not subject to sanctions,” Dujarric said.

The United States has called on Russia to stop threatening the world’s food supply.