Black Sea grain shipments risky without security guarantees: Kremlin
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Dmitry Peskov says Russia will consider returning to the deal once all parties involved “take the previously agreed upon measures.”
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Cargo ships anchor at the Black Sea and wait to cross the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul Turkey on Thursday, November 17, 2022. (AP)
The Kremlin cautioned on Tuesday that attempting to move grain from Ukrainian Black Sea ports without Russian security assurances would be dangerous since Kiev exploited the seas for military purposes.
The agreements underlying the contentious Black Sea Grain Deal have been "terminated," according to the Kremlin on Monday morning. Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the country will return to the agreement as soon as all parties involved take the previously agreed-upon procedures.
Peskov stated at a press conference on Monday, the day the pact expired, that the "Black Sea agreements effectively ceased to be in effect today."
According to Peskov, "The Russian Federation will return to the deal as soon as the Russian prerequisites are met..."The Grain Deal has come to a halt," he said, emphasizing that the other signatories had yet to honor some of the agreement's stipulations regarding Russia.
Moreover, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova stated that Moscow has officially notified Turkey, Ukraine, and the UN that it will not renew the agreement.
In a briefing, Peskov told reporters, "We're talking about an area that's close to a war zone... Without the appropriate security guarantees, certain risks arise there. So if something is formalized without Russia, these risks should be taken into account."
According to him, the waters are obviously used by Ukraine for military purposes.
Peskov also denied US claims of "weaponizing food", detailing that Russia has many times extended the deal and fulfilled its obligations even when security guarantees were not implemented.
With African countries being the most in need, Russia has vowed to continue granting them grain at no cost.
He stated that Moscow was in contact with its African allies and that the issue will be discussed during a Russia-Africa conference next week in St Petersburg.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said he spoke by phone with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov about the grain situation.
