US urges Moscow to return to grain deal: Blinken

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The US is calling on Russia to rejoin the Black Sea Grain Initiative, according to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

In response to Ukraine's drone attack on Russian Black Sea Fleet ships in Sevastopol on Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry said Russia was suspending its participation in the grain agreement. "The United States regrets Russia’s suspension of its participation in the operations of the UN-brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative. We urge all parties to keep this essential, life-saving Initiative functioning," Blinken said in a Saturday statement.

The grain deal has allowed the moving of over 9 million metric tons of food and "brought prices down around the world," according to Blinken, although the biggest share was going to the EU and not developing countries as the agreement stipulates. 

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He accused Russia of "weaponizing food" and claimed that the Istanbul grain initiative "has been a success and must continue."

"We urge the Government of Russia to resume its participation in the Initiative, fully comply with the arrangement, and work to ensure that people around the world continue to be able to receive the benefits facilitated by the Initiative," Blinken said on Saturday.

In a statement on Saturday, Ismini Palla, a UN representative for the Black Sea Grain Initiative, said Russia had communicated its concerns about the safety of civilian ships traveling under the grain initiative to the UN coordinator at the Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul (JCC), which oversees the transportation of Ukrainian grain.

'Purely outrageous'

US President Joe Biden said Russia's withdrawal from an agreement that allowed vital grain exports from Ukraine was "purely outrageous" while speaking to reporters Saturday, completely disreagrding the attack in the Black Sea, which is supposed to be a safe route as part of the agreement to ensure that the shipping is secured. 

There is "no reason for them to do that," the President said of the halt to the deal, which had been heralded as critical to easing the global food crisis caused by the conflict.

The deputy Russian envoy to the UN, Dmitry Polyanskiy, stated on Saturday that Russia had asked for a meeting of the UN Security Council to be held on Monday to discuss the drone attack by Ukraine on the ships and infrastructure of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol, which caused Moscow to halt its involvement in the grain deal.