Russia announced its intention to rejoin the agreement it recently withdrew from that had allowed vital Ukrainian exports to leave that would’ve threatened global food security.
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The Russian Ministry of Defense announced the decision on Wednesday, only days after it withdrew from the deal citing a drone attack on the city of Sevastopol in occupied Crimea, which it blamed on the Ukrainians.
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“The Russian Federation considers that the guarantees received at the moment seem sufficient and resumes the implementation of the agreement,” the ministry said in a statement posted on its Telegram channel.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who played a significant role in the brokering of the deal back in July, said on Wednesday, “Based on our conversation with Mr. Putin yesterday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu called our National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar today to say that as of 12:00pm today the exports of grain will continue as they had.”
Russia had informed the United Nations and Turkey of its intent to withdraw from the deal on Saturday, though Ukrainian grain ships had continued to leave the port on Monday and Tuesday, but there were expectations that they would soon stop.
Prior to Russia’s announcement that it’ll rejoin the deal, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of attempting “to exacerbate the global food crisis” during his nightly address on Monday.
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“I am grateful to both [German Chancellor Olaf] Scholz and [NATO Secretary-General Antonio] Guterres for supporting our actions aimed at preserving the grain export initiative and preventing the spread of large-scale famine in some regions of the world,” he added. “It is very important now to prevent this global destabilization that Russia seeks. And we can prevent it.”
Prior to Ukraine and Russia agreeing to the deal in July, Russia had barred Ukrainian export ships from leaving the port. Ukraine was the world’s largest exporter of sunflower oil, fourth largest of corn, and fifth largest of wheat prior to the war.
