On Monday, Russia halted participation in the grain deal which lets Ukraine export grain through the Black Sea, just hours after a blast knocked out Russia’s bridge to Crimea in what Moscow called a strike by Ukrainian sea drones.
Russia said two civilians were killed and their daughter wounded in what Moscow calls a terrorist attack on the road bridge.
The Kremlin said there was no link between the attack and its decision to suspend the grain deal, over what it called a failure to meet its demands to implement a parallel agreement easing rules for its own food and fertilizer exports.
“In fact, the Black Sea agreements ceased to be valid today,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “Unfortunately, the part of these Black Sea agreements concerning Russia has not been implemented so far, so its effect is terminated.”
Peskov further said Russia would “return” to the deal “immediately” if its demands about its own exports were met.
The United Nations and Turkey brokered the landmark accord with Ukraine and Russia in July last year, which came with a separate agreement to facilitate shipments of Russian food and fertiliser that Moscow insists has not been applied.
