Russia axes landmark Ukraine grain deal just hours before deadline

Russia on Monday said it had suspended a humanitarian corridor to deliver key Ukrainian grains to global markets, hours before the agreement’s expiry.

First inked in July 2022, the U.N.-brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative has been repeatedly elongated in short increments, amid increasing discontent from Russia over perceived restrictions that limit the full dispatch of its own grain and fertilizer exports. Russian head of state Vladimir Putin reiterated these complaints over a weekend call with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, saying — according to a Google-translated report from the Kremlin — that the key objective of supplying grain to countries in need, including those on the African continent, had not been achieved under the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

The Black Sea grain initiative was set up to abate a global food crisis, after Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of fellow key grain exporter and neighbor Ukraine. It was set to lapse on Monday at midnight, Istanbul time.

“The Black Sea agreements ceased to be valid today. As the President of the Russian Federation said earlier, the deadline is July 17. Unfortunately, the part relating to Russia in this Black Sea agreement has not been implemented so far. Therefore, its effect is terminated,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, in Google-translated comments reported by Russian state news agency Tass on Monday.