Russia Halts Shipping in Black Sea Grain Corridor

On Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry announced the stop of navigation on the Black Sea route used to ship Ukrainian agricultural products. This followed Ukraine's October 29 terrorist attack on Russian military and civilian vessels in Sevastopol, Crimea. 

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According to the Russian Defense Ministry, "the navigation of ships through the security corridor is unacceptable, as the Ukrainian leadership and the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine use it to carry out hostile acts against the Russian Federation."

The Ministry said the cessation of navigation through the corridor will be in force "until the situation with the Ukrainian terrorist attack on military and civilian ships in Sevastopol is clarified."

The October 29 attack caused Russia to suspend indefinitely its participation in the agreement negotiated by the United Nations (UN) and Türkiye on Ukrainian grain exports across the Black Sea.

In this regard, the Defense Ministry said the country had not withdrawn from the agreement; it simply suspended it indefinitely. 

The Ministry said Ukraine should commit not to use the corridor for military purposes. "In the created conditions, one cannot speak about security guarantees [...] in that direction until Ukraine makes additional commitments not to use this route for military purposes."

In this scenario, Russia said it would compensate for the volumes of grain that would not reach the market following its suspension of the grain agreement. It was signed last July 22 to unblock Ukrainian grain and fertilizer exports amid hostilities.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday, "At the moment, we can only guarantee Russia's readiness to compensate at its own expense for the lost grain volumes." In this regard, Peskov referred to the poorest nations, including African countries highly dependent on grain.