The United States, European Union and NATO are condemning Russia for pulling out of a United Nations-brokered deal to let Ukraine export grain after Moscow blamed Kyiv for orchestrating a drone attack against its Black Sea Fleet near Crimea.
Wheat futures were expected to rise when markets open Monday.
“The start of the week is very likely to see prices climb, simply because less grain is going to come out of Ukraine,” Arthur Portier of Agritel told U.K.-based The Guardian.
The European Union called on Russia to reverse its decision and allow the grain shipments, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky characterized the move as a threat to cause “large-scale famine to Africa and Asia.”
On Sunday, Kyiv’s infrastructure ministry said 218 vessels were “effectively blocked” in its ports – 22 loaded and stuck at ports, 95 loaded and departed from ports, and 101 awaiting inspections, The Guardian reported.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is “deeply concerned about the ongoing situation regarding the Black Sea Grain Initiative,” spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement, adding Guterres was in “intense contacts” aiming to end the Russian suspension of its participation in the agreement.
“It’s really outrageous,” President Biden told reporters in Wilmington, Del., on Saturday. “There’s no merit to what they’re doing. The UN negotiated that deal and that should be the end of it.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused Russia of “weaponizing food” in the war it launched against Ukraine on Feb. 24.
“Any act by Russia to disrupt these critical grain exports is essentially a statement that people and families around the world should pay more for food or go hungry,” Blinken said in a statement released Saturday by the State Department.
Russian soldiers watch farmers harvest grain in southern Ukraine in July. AP”In suspending this arrangement, Russia is again weaponizing food in the war it started, directly impacting low- and middle-income countries and global food prices, and exacerbating already dire humanitarian crises and food insecurity,” he said, calling on Russia to resume its participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
That stance was echoed by NATO, which urged Russia to “reconsider its decision and renew the deal urgently, enabling food to reach those who need it most,” spokesperson Oana Lungescu said, The Guardian reported.
The agreement among the UN, Turkey, Ukraine and Russia to allow grain and fertilizer to be shipped from Ukrainian ports was inked in July in Istanbul and expected to be renewed in November.
A woman stands near a house destroyed by a Russian attack in the Donetsk region of Ukraine on Oct. 29. AP
A dump track unloads grain in a granary in the village of Zghurivka, Ukraine, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2022. APSince then, more than 9 million tons of grain have left the ports, reducing global food prices by as much as 15% from their peak in March, the UN said.
Ukraine’s Zelensky pleaded with the West for a “strong international response.”
“Russia is doing everything to ensure that millions of Africans, millions of residents of the Middle East and South Asia find themselves in conditions of artificial famine or at least a severe price crisis,” he said in a video address on Saturday.
A cargo ship sails through the Bosphorus Strait in Turkey in July. AP“Why can a handful of people somewhere in the Kremlin decide whether people in Egypt or Bangladesh will have food on their tables?” he said.
“This is a completely transparent attempt by Russia to return to the threat of large-scale famine for Africa, for Asia,” Zelensky said, adding that Russia should be booted from the G20.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the Kremlin is using the attack on its ships near Sevastopol as a “false pretext” to ditch the initiative.
”Russia has planned this well in advance,” Kuleba said on Twitter. “Russia took the decision to resume its hunger games long ago and now tries to justify it.”
A farmer harvests grain in July near a crater caused by a Russian rocket in Ukraine. APJosep Borrell, EU’s foreign affairs representative, urged Russia to return to the agreement.
“Russia’s decision to suspend participation in the Black Sea deal puts at risks the main export route of much needed grain and fertilizers to address the global food crisis caused by its war against Ukraine,” he said on Twitter.
Kuleba said Russia is blocking 2 million tons of grain on 176 ships – “enough to feed over 7 million people.”
A building in Ukraine pockmarked by shrapnel from Russia rockets in the Donetsk region on Oct. 29. APThe Russian Ministry of Defense said Saturday it was withdrawing from the initiative because it could not guarantee the safety of the cargo vessels after Ukraine carried out the attack near Crimea that Moscow has controlled since invading in 2014.
“In connection with the actions of Ukrainian armed forces … the Russian side cannot guarantee the safety of civilian dry cargo ships participating in the Black Sea initiative, and suspends its implementation from today for an indefinite period,” a statement said.
Russia on Saturday also accused the British navy of blowing up the Nord Stream pipelines that carry natural gas to Europe last month.
London has denied the claim.
With Post wires
