UPDATE
Russia’s Permanent Mission to the UN said the decision to drop the grain deal is final and that Russia does not intend to negotiate any further.
The International Maritime Organisation received Russia’s letter retracting guarantees for the safety of navigation.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv intends to do everything that is possible to ensure the continued export of Ukrainian grain.
“We had two agreements: the first involved Ukraine, Turkey, and the UN; the second involved Russia, Turkey, and the UN. So when Russia says it’s stopping [the grain deal], it’s aborting its agreements with UN Secretary-General Guterres and President Erdogan. Not with us. We did not have any agreements with them,” Zelensky pointed.
Zelensky said he instructed the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry to prepare “official signals” to the UN and Turkey in order for them to indicate that they are ready to continue the initiative.
The Black Sea grain deal will expire on 18 July, followed by the dissolution of the joint coordination centre in Istanbul, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated on Monday.
The Ministry added that Russia will be withdrawing its guarantees for the safety of navigation, shutting down the maritime humanitarian corridor, and once again declaring the north-western waters of the Black Sea a temporarily dangerous area.
“'The Black Sea Initiative was launched just a week after it was signed. However, contrary to the declared humanitarian goals, the export of Ukrainian grain was almost immediately commercialised and until the last moment was aimed at serving the narrowly selfish interests of Kyiv and its Western curators,” the statement reads.
Earlier today, Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that the grain deal has already effectively expired. “Unfortunately, the part of the agreement that concerned Russia has not yet been fulfilled. Therefore, the deal is being terminated,” he explained.
He assured that Russia would return to the grain deal as soon as its requirements are fulfilled.
Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, and the UN signed the grain deal last July, agreeing on a safe maritime corridor for commercial grain ships leaving the Ukrainian ports of Odesa, Tchornomorsk, and Yuzhny.