LONDON, Oct 31 (Reuters) – Russia said on Monday that it would be risky for Ukraine to continue exporting grain via the Black Sea now that Moscow had suspended its participation in a U.N.-brokered deal to facilitate shipments.
Moscow said on Saturday it was suspending its participation after an attack on its Black Sea fleet. Ukraine has neither confirmed nor denied it was behind that attack.
“In conditions when Russia is talking about the impossibility of guaranteeing the safety of shipping in these areas, such a deal is hardly feasible, and it takes on a different character – much more risky, dangerous and unguaranteed,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Peskov again blamed Ukraine’s actions for disrupting the deal.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has accused Moscow of “blackmailing the world with hunger” by pulling out of the deal. The accord allowed Ukraine to resume grain shipments after a Russian blockade of its southern ports following Moscow’s invasion on Feb. 24.
Ukraine is a leading grain exporter, and its shipments are vital to avert a global food crisis and the threat of famine in parts of Africa.
Peskov said Russian contacts with Turkey and the United Nations, which brokered the grain export deal in July, were continuing. He declined to comment when asked what needed to happen, from Russia’s point of view, for the deal to be resumed.
He did not spell out why shipments without Russia’s involvement would be risky. Twelve ships carrying grain left Ukrainian ports on Monday despite Russia’s announcement.
Russia’s move has sparked an outcry from Ukraine, NATO, the European Union and the United States. U.S. President Joe Biden on Saturday called Russia’s move “purely outrageous” and said it would increase starvation. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused Moscow of weaponising food.
Before pulling out of the deal, Russia had complained for weeks that too little of the grain was going to the poorest countries.
Peskov said Russia would continue to support African countries but the details were complex and were still being worked out. “So far we can only guarantee the readiness of the Russian side to compensate for the falling volumes at its own expense,” he said.
In Other Developments:
GRAIN DEAL
* A record volume of 354,500 tonnes of agricultural products left Ukrainian ports on Monday as part of the Black Sea grain deal, a spokesperson for Odesa’s military administration said, despite Russia’s decision to pull out of the accord.
* Moscow’s decision, which it said was prompted by blasts it blamed on Kyiv that damaged Russian naval ships in a Crimean port, is likely to hit shipments to import-dependent countries, deepening a global food crisis and triggering higher prices.
* The U.N. Coordinator for the Black Sea Grain Initiative said civilian cargo ships must never be a military target or held hostage, and that “the food must flow” under the deal.
* Moscow has asked the U.N. Security Council to convene on Monday to discuss Saturday’s attack, in which it said Ukraine used 16 drones to attack Russia’s Black Sea Fleet near Sevastopol.
FIGHTING
* Russian forces pounded energy facilities across Ukraine with missiles on Monday, causing blackouts and cutting off water supplies in some parts of the country, Ukrainian officials said. There was no immediate word on casualties.
* Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said 18 targets, mostly energy infrastructure, had been hit in the latest wave of missile and drone strikes on 10 Ukrainian regions.
* The Russian army repelled attacks by Ukrainian forces in the Kharkiv, Kherson and Luhansk regions, Russian news agencies cited the defence ministry as saying on Sunday. It also accused Ukraine of firing near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, but said the radiation situation remained normal, TASS reported.
* Ukraine’s east military command said there were fierce battles near Bakhmut in Donetsk region, and Ukrainian forces had held back Russian assaults on two other areas in the region, around Avdiivka and Uhledar.
Reuters was not able to verify the reports.
QUOTES
“Another batch of Russian missiles hits Ukraine’s critical infrastructure. Instead of fighting on the battlefield, Russia fights civilians,” said Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Twitter.
