Russia has withdrawn from the Black Sea grain export agreement, the Kremlin said on Monday, news agency Reuters reported. Last July, the United Nations and Turkey reached an agreement to ease a worldwide food crisis by allowing Ukrainian grain that had been stopped by the Russia-Ukraine conflict to be safely shipped. It had been extended multiple times before finally expiring on Monday. Russia has been claiming for months that the requirements for its prolongation have not been met.
Speaking with reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated: "In fact, the Black Sea agreements ceased to be valid today. Unfortunately, the part of these Black Sea agreements concerning Russia has not been implemented so far, so its effect is terminated."
Moscow has long complained that hurdles to grain and fertiliser exports remained, despite the fact that they were not explicitly sanctioned by the West, and has issued a series of requests that it claims have not been addressed.
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"As soon as the Russian part of the agreements is fulfilled, the Russian side will return to the implementation of this deal, immediately," Peskov was quoted by Reuters in its report.
He claimed that the decision not to extend the agreement had nothing to do with an overnight attack on the bridge between Russia and Crimea, which he branded a "terrorist act" and blamed on Ukraine.
The Ukrainian military indicated that the strike was a provocation by Russia, however Ukrainian media reported anonymous sources as stating that the event was carried out by Ukraine's Security Service.
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"These are absolutely unrelated events. Even before the terrorist attack, the position was declared by President Putin," Peskov said.