Editor’s Note: In the time between laying this story out for printing in this week’s paper and its publication on November 3, 2022 Russia has agreed to resume its participation in this deal.
(REUTERS) — Russia suspended its participation in the Black Sea deal Oct. 29 in response to what it called a major Ukrainian drone attack on its fleet in Russia-annexed Crimea.
Kyiv said Russia was making an excuse for a prepared exit from the accord, and Washington said it was weaponizing food.
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On Oct. 31, Russia said it would be dangerous for Ukraine to continue exporting grain via the Black Sea because it could not guarantee the safety of shipping in those areas.
Hundreds of thousands of tonnes of wheat booked for delivery to Africa and the Middle East are at risk after Russia’s withdrawal from the pact, with Ukrainian corn exports to Europe also expected to be hit, two Singapore-based traders said.
However, exports out of Ukrainian ports continued Oct. 31 with record volumes under the grain deal, Kyiv said, suggesting Moscow had stopped short of reimposing a blockade.
Under the United Nations -brokered grains deal, a co-ordinating body comprising UN, Turkish, Russian and Ukrainian officials agrees on the movement of ships and inspects the vessels. More than nine million tonnes of corn, wheat, sunflower products, barley, rapeseed and soy have been exported from the Black Sea since July.
Corn was the main grain exported, followed by wheat.
Grain markets have been sensitive to developments in Moscow’s eight-month-old invasion of Ukraine because the two countries are among the world’s largest suppliers of wheat.
