Black sea grain deal: Putin blasted for ‘cynical’ move to end grain deal after Crimea Bridge struck

European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Monday called Russia’s decision to suspend a Black Sea grain export deal a “cynical move”, adding that the EU would continue to work towards ensuring food security for poor countries.

Russia said it had halted participation in a landmark UN-brokered deal that allowed Ukrainian grain to be exported through the Black Sea just hours after Moscow said Ukraine had attacked the Crimean Bridge. Prices for grains and oilseeds have already risen in response to news that Russia will suspend its participation in the deal.

“I strongly condemn Russia’s cynical move to terminate the Black Sea Grain Initiative, despite UN & Turkiye’s efforts. EU is working to ensure food security for the world’s vulnerable. EU Solidarity Lanes will continue bringing agrifood products out of Ukraine & to global markets,” von der Leyen said in a Tweet.

EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell said Moscow’s decision was unjustified and was using food as a weapon in the conflict with Ukraine.

“This is something very serious that will create a lot of troubles for many people around the world,” Borrell told reporters on entering a summit with countries of South and Central America. “I have to blame Russia for this decision. (It is) completely unjustified, weaponising the hunger of the people.”

Ukraine is a major producer of grains and oilseeds and the interruption to its exports at the outbreak of war pushed global food prices to record highs. The deal, agreed in July 2022 some five months after the war started, helped to bring down prices and ease a global food crisis.

Russia’s decision not to extend the Black Sea grain deal is final and no more talks are planned, state news agency TASS quoted a senior Russian official at the United Nations as saying on Monday.

The President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) has said the expiration of the Black Sea grain export deal “risks holding global food security at ransom”.

David Miliband said: “The IRC is deeply alarmed at Russia’s withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative, putting the future of the grain exports from the region at risk – a decision which will be most painfully felt by the 349 million people around the world facing food insecurity today. From Ukraine to Somalia, IRC’s clients are facing the ripple effects on food and energy prices of 500 days of war. The expiration of the deal risks holding global food security at ransom.”

A pre-dawn deadly assault on the Kerch Bridge is the second such attack in just nine months. As Ukraine pushes ahead with a summer counteroffensive, it amounts to a personal jab at Vladimir Putin, who has often boasted about its construction.

The 12-mile rail and road structure – the longest in Europe – was a £2.7 billion prestige project opened by Mr Putin five years ago. It links the Russian mainland and occupied Crimea, which Moscow illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014. When it was opened, Mr Putin boasted that Russian Tsars had dreamed of building this “miracle” but never succeeded. Russian state media hailed it as the “construction of the century”.

Since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine last February, the bridge has morphed into a military supply lifeline for Moscow’s men on the battlefield. In the summer it is also gridlocked with Russian tourists wanting to holiday in Crimea – a popular holiday destination, despite the war rumbling mere miles away.

In Ukraine, the bridge has become a focus of anger as a symbol of Russia’s long-standing efforts to take Ukrainian territory and to ‘Russify’ the territory.

Losing the bridge would undermine Russia’s supply lines and potentially cut off tens of thousands of Russian holidaymakers in Crimea from the mainland.

A deal allowing Ukraine to export grain via the Black Sea will expire at the end of Monday after Russia said it will suspend its participation.

The deal, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey last July, aimed to alleviate a global food crisis by allowing Ukrainian grain blocked by the Russia-Ukraine conflict to be exported safely.

Why is the deal important?

Ukraine is a major producer of grains and oilseeds and the interruption to its exports at the outbreak of war pushed global food prices to record highs. The deal, agreed in July 2022 some five months after the war started, helped to bring down prices and ease a global food crisis.

Russian officials are being hit by British sanctions over president Vladimir Putin’s “chilling” forced deportations of Ukrainian children.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly announced 14 new asset bans and travel freezes against Russians deemed to have played a role in trying to erase Ukrainian national identity.

Some 19,000 children have been forcibly deported to Russia or territories controlled by Moscow during the invasion, Ukrainian figures suggest.

Many are sent to “re-education” camps where they are reported to be exposed to a programme of cultural, patriotic and military education drawn up by Russia.

Mr Cleverly said: “In his chilling programme of forced child deportation, and the hate-filled propaganda spewed by his lackeys, we see Putin’s true intention – to wipe Ukraine from the map.

“Today’s sanctions hold those who prop up Putin’s regime to account, including those who would see Ukraine destroyed, its national identity dissolved, and its future erased.”

Among the officials targeted are Russian education minister Sergei Kravtsov and Moscow’s children’s rights commissioner Ksenia Mishonova.

Meanwhile, Mr Cleverly was to use a speech at the UN Security Council in New York to demand that the Kremlin renews its Black Sea grain deal after suspending the agreement.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “Fundamentally, if Russia does not extend the deal, they will be robbing millions of people of access to vital grain and causing suffering across the globe.”

Italian Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, tasked by Pope Francis to help bring peace to Ukraine, was heading to Washington on Monday to meet U.S. officials as a follow up to his talks in Kyiv and Moscow, the Vatican said.

A statement said he would be there for three days but did not say who he would be meeting.

The visit is aimed at promoting peace in Ukraine and supporting “humanitarian initiatives to alleviate the suffering of people who have been hit the hardest and the most fragile, in particular children,” the statement said.

Last month, Zuppi visited Moscow, where he met with the head of Russia‘s influential Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, and with Russia‘s Children’s Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova.

Earlier in June, he visited Kyiv and met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Zelenskiy, who met the pope in May, has asked the Vatican to back his unconditional peace plan, which calls for restoring Ukraine‘s territorial integrity, the withdrawal of Russian troops and cessation of hostilities, and the restoration of Ukraine‘s state borders.

The Vatican statement’s mention of humanitarian initiatives and children appeared to be a reference to Kyiv’s request – and the Vatican’s willingness – to help with the repatriation of Ukrainian children.

Kyiv estimates nearly 19,500 children have been taken to Russia or Russian-occupied Crimea since February 2022, in what it condemns as illegal deportations.

Zuppi said earlier this month that he was working on a “mechanism” that could ensure the return of the children.

The Turkish and Russian foreign ministers will discuss the Black Sea grain deal on Monday, President Tayyip Erdogan said, adding that he hoped for progress on the issue after Moscow said it was suspending its participation.

“I hope that with this discussion, we can make some progress and continue on our way without a pause,” Erdogan said, speaking to reporters shortly after Moscow said it was halted its participation in the deal.

Erdogan said he may also speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin before they meet in person in August.