Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, commenting on Russia's withdrawal from the "grain deal," stated that Russia is "using hunger as an instrument."

"Russia has been killing the 'grain initiative' from one extension to another. You have to know that last year when the Black Sea grain initiative was introduced, grain prices in the world dropped by 20%. The non-extension of the agreement means that prices for grain all across the world will go up," noted the Ukrainian Foreign Minister in an interview with CBS.

He pointed out that regions such as Africa and Asia will feel the impact of this price increase, and it is "the result of Russia's actions."

According to him, Russia "uses hunger as an instrument" to blackmail the entire world and pursue its commercial interests.

Kuleba called on Russia to "stop playing hunger games."

On 17 July, the Russian president’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov announced the suspension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

At the same time, the President of Türkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said that he believed the Russian president actually wanted the so-called grain deal to be extended, and he would talk to him about it. 

Media report that the EU had considered making concessions to a Russian bank for the sake of the grain deal, specifically by setting up a subsidiary of the sanctioned Russian Rosselkhozbank (Agricultural Bank) to restore its connection with SWIFT.