South Front
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On July 17, the press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov declared that the grain deal “actually ceased to be valid today.” Earlier, he claimed that the attack on the Crimean Bridge affected Moscow’s decision.
In fact the deal stopped in June 29. The last permit for the passage of ships from Odessa through the Bosphorus was issued on June 28. The last ship left the Odessa port on July 16, heading to the Netherlands.
Peskov clarified that the deal was suspended “until Moscow’s demands are met”. He added that the Russian position on the Black Sea grain initiative was announced before today’s attack on the Crimean Bridge, these are “absolutely unrelated events.”
“As the President of Russia said earlier, the deadline expires on July 17. Unfortunately, the part concerning Russia of these Black Sea agreements has not been fulfilled so far. Therefore, their effect is terminated. As soon as the Russian part of the agreements is fulfilled, the Russian side will return to the implementation of this deal. Immediately,” Peskov said.
In her turn, the spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, claimed that Moscow had conveyed to Kiev, Ankara and the UN its objections to the extension of the agreement. The UN has reportedly received the notification.
The grain deal supposed the creation of a secured corridor for the export of agricultural products from Ukraine. The second part of the agreement, which represented Russian interests, included the removal of obstacles to the export of Russian products, as well as fertilizers.
Among the necessary conditions for the extension of the deal, the Russian authorities called the resumption of supplies of agricultural machinery and spare parts, the lifting of restrictions on insurance and reinsurance, the lifting of the ban on access to ports, the reconnection of the Rosselkhoznadzor to SWIFT international payment system.
On July 12, the UN has sent proposals to Moscow, which, among other things, suggested “the removal of obstacles affecting financial transactions through the Rosselkhoznadzor.”
Moscow has constantly claimed that the second part of the deal has never been implemented but the Kremlin prolonged the agreements. In mid-July, the UN confirmed that not a single vessel with Russian fertilizers had been sent during the grain deal.
According to the UN, by the beginning of March 2023, about 780 ships had left the Ukrainian ports of Odessa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny, which exported about 23 million tons of grain.
According to UN statistics, 60% were received by five countries:
- China (4.8 million tons),
- Spain (3.9 million tons),
- Turkey (2.6 million tons),
- Italy (1.7 million tons) and the Netherlands (1.4 million tons).
Thus, 52.6% of grain went to Europe and Central Asia, 24.8% — to the Asia-Pacific region, 14.3% — to the Middle East and North America, and only 2.6% — to sub-Saharan states.
