Ukraine's Foreign Minister Explains Why Attack against Russian Warships Reason for Kremlin to Withdraw from "Grain Agreement"

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has noted that the attack against Russian ships in the Sevastopol Bay (Crimea) was merely a reason for Moscow to withdraw from the "grain agreement" since steps to disrupt it began long before that. 

"By suspending its participation in the grain deal on a false pretext of explosions 220 kilometres away from the grain corridor, Russia blocks 2 million tons of grain on 176 vessels already at sea — enough to feed over 7 million people. Russia has planned this well in advance," Kuleba wrote on Twitter.

The current queue with grain has accumulated in the Black Sea since September, when Russia started deliberately delaying the functioning of the corridor and seeking to undermine the deal. Russia took the decision to resume its hunger games long ago and now tries to justify it 2/2

— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) October 30, 2022

On 29 October, Russia announced that it suspended its participation in the implementation of the "grain agreement" allegedly because of the "terrorist attack" in the Sevastopol Bay on Saturday morning. The Russian Defence Ministry said that the target of the attack in Sevastopol Bay was ships of the Black Sea Fleet, which were allegedly involved in ensuring the security of the grain corridor.

The UN commented that it "maintained contacts" with the Russian authorities after reports of the country’s withdrawal from the initiative. 

It is worth noting that the "grain agreement" was supposed to end in November, and Russia threatened to withdraw from the agreement if its requirements were not met.