Russia announced the suspension of the grain export agreement through the Black Sea from Ukrainian ports, after verifying that the commitments with the Russian side have not been fulfilled. “The grain agreement is suspended,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said in his daily telephone press conference. At the same time, Peskov stressed that, “as soon as the Russian part is fulfilled” of the agreements, Russia “will immediately re-implement this agreement.”

“In practice the Black Sea agreements expired today. Unfortunately, the part of the Black Sea agreement that concerns Russia has not been fulfilled. Therefore, (the agreement) loses its force“, he explained. The Kremlin spokesman was referring to the reconnection of the Russian agricultural bank, Rosseljozbank, to SWIFT, the lifting of sanctions on spare parts for agricultural machinery, the unblocking of logistics and transport insurance, the unfreezing of assets and the resumption of the Togliatti-Odesa ammonia pipeline, which exploded on June 5.

These Russian aspirations are contained in a memorandum signed between Russia and the UN, which Moscow considers mandatory for the implementation of the grain agreement. Peskov denied that the suspension of the pact for the export of grain through the Black Sea is related to the attack carried out this morning against the Crimean bridgelinking the occupied Ukrainian peninsula with Russia.

“No, are events that are not linked in any way“, he affirmed when asked about this point. The spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zajárova, reported in turn that “Russia officially informed the Turkish and Ukrainian parties, as well as the UN Secretariat, that it opposes the prolongation of the agreement” of the grain.