MOSCOW —
Russia on Wednesday rejoined a deal to allow Ukrainian grain exports through
the Black Sea but Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Moscow could pull out
of the agreement again.
اضافة اعلان
The revival of
an agreement aimed at easing fears of global food insecurity came just as
Washington warned it was “increasingly concerned” that Moscow could use nuclear
weapons in its campaign in Ukraine.
Russia’s defense
ministry said it had received “sufficient” guarantees from Kyiv that it would
not use the maritime corridor to carry out attacks on Moscow’s military.
UN
Secretary-General
Antonio Guterres “warmly” welcomed Russia’s decision to
resume participation in the agreement, which was brokered by the UN and Turkey
in July and allows for joint inspections of ships.
President
Vladimir Putin said Russia could leave the deal again if Ukraine violates its
guarantees but would not “interfere” with any grain deliveries even if it did
so.
The Ukrainian
president’s chief of staff,
Andriy Yermak, said Russia’s change of mind just
days after announcing it was pulling out of the deal “puts an end to many years
of Russian blackmail diplomacy”.
A Turkish security
source said the corridor was open again from 9am GMT although no departures
from Ukraine were planned Wednesday.
The deal,
overseen by the Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul, has allowed more than
9.7 million tonnes of grain and other foodstuffs to leave Ukrainian ports.
This has brought
much-needed relief to a global food crisis triggered by the conflict between
Russia and Ukraine, which are both major global grain exporters.
Russia on
Saturday had said it was temporarily pulling out, accusing Ukraine of misusing
the safe shipping corridor to launch a drone attack on its Black Sea fleet.
Moscow warned
the route was “dangerous” for shipments without its participation in the
agreement but some deliveries from Ukraine still went ahead on Monday and
Tuesday.
Ukrainian
President
Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday had urged “reliable and long-term protection”
of the corridor while Russia’s Vladimir Putin demanded “real guarantees”.
The Russian
defense ministry on Wednesday said it obtained written guarantees from Kyiv
“thanks to the participation” of the UN and “assistance” from Turkey.
It said Kyiv guaranteed
“the non-use of the humanitarian corridor and Ukrainian ports determined in the
interests of the export of agricultural products for conducting military
operations against the Russian Federation”.
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