Russia pulls out of Black Sea grain deal

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Russia has formally pulled out of a UN-brokered deal to export Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea, potentially jeopardizing millions of tonnes of food exports from the war-torn country.

President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters on Monday that the accord was “essentially closed” and that Russia would no longer cooperate with the deal.

Since the agreement was initially brokered by the United Nations and Turkey a year ago, Russia has complained that Western sanctions were blocking a parallel agreement to allow Moscow to pay, insure and ship its agricultural exports. Peskov said Russia would resume its participation in the deal as soon as the relevant agreements were completed.

A Western diplomat told the FT that Moscow informed other stakeholders on Monday morning that it would be pulling out of the deal.

The initiative has allowed Ukraine to export some 32.9 million metric tons of food via sea since August, more than half to developing countries, according to the coordination committee set up to oversee its implementation.

This is a developing story