Russia’s Withdrawal from Black Sea Grain Initiative and Bombing of Odesa: Turning Food into Weapon

Russia’s withdrawal from the Black Sea grain initiative and the bombing of the Odesa region, including the port, are another proof of Russia’s criminal tactics to turn food into a weapon, President Edgars Rinkevičs emphasized on the microblogging site “Twitter”.

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The head of state also noted that Russia is fully responsible for the consequences of all these actions.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday that millions of people suffering from hunger will “pay” for Russia’s decision to withdraw from the international “grain deal” that guaranteed Ukraine’s grain exports via the Black Sea.

The UN chief expressed deep regret over Russia’s decision, but added that it would not stop the UN’s efforts to ensure unimpeded access to world markets for food and fertilizers from Ukraine and Russia.

Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov announced that Russia is withdrawing from the international agreement that allowed the export of grain from Ukraine via the Black Sea. The term of the agreement, which was extended several times, ended on July 17.

“Grain deal” negotiations have actually been terminated, it has been suspended, Peskov announced. It is true, he added, that “Russia will return to the “grain deal” without delay, as soon as the agreements related to it are fulfilled.”

On Monday, Russia informed Turkey and Ukraine, as well as the UN Secretariat, about their objections to the extension of the “grain deal”, the press secretary of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Maria Zakharova told the Russian propaganda media “RIA Novosti”.

On the other hand, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed confidence on Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin still wants to extend the international “grain deal”, which guarantees Ukrainian grain exports via the Black Sea.

Ukraine and Russia, through Turkey, signed an agreement with the UN on July 22 of last year to resume the export of Ukrainian agricultural goods to the Black Sea, which was interrupted when Russia launched a renewed invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

The agreement enabled Ukraine to send more than 32 million tons of grain past Russian warships in the Black Sea. Much of this grain ended up in developing countries in Africa, the Middle East and elsewhere. If exports were to be blocked again, food prices could rise even further.

According to media reports, the European Union is considering concessions to the Russian bank for the “grain deal”. It is about the creation of a subsidiary of the sanctioned bank “Rosseļhozbank” in order to restore its links with the international payment notification system SWIFT, Ukrainian web media “Ukrainska Pravda” reports.

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Russia has also explained its objections to the extension of the agreement by the fact that obstacles are being placed on the export of its agricultural products and mineral fertilizers.

It has already been written that Russia attacked the southern regions of Ukraine on the night of Tuesday using “Shahed” attack drones.

Explosions were heard first in Mykolaiv, and then in Odesa. The Ukrainian Air Force reported the threat of combined attacks and the use of strike drones in Odesa, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Zaporizhia, Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions.

Threats of using ballistic weapons were also reported in Poltava, Cherkasy, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv and Kirovohrad regions.

Serhii Bratchuk, the spokesman of the Ukrainian volunteer army “South”, announced that Ukrainian air defense is operating in Odessa.

The operational command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine “South” announced that the Russian army is attacking the south of Ukraine with attack drones and several waves of attacks are possible. There is also a very high level of missile threat, as the activity of Russian missile ships is recorded in the Black Sea.

Vitaly Kim, the head of the military administration of the Mykolaiv region, said that a fire broke out in the city after the attack. The mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Senkevich, called this fire quite serious and added that rescuers are working at the scene.

2023-07-18 09:44:18
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