- choice of words
- BBC News World
image source, Reuters
Russian naval fleet in Sevastopol in 2014.
Russia announced this Saturday that it was suspending its participation in an international agreement that allowed Ukraine to export grain from its Black Sea ports.
The announcement comes hours after Ukraine was accused of a of a “massive” drone attack against his Black Sea naval fleet at Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsula.
Ukraine responded that Russia was “inventing terrorist attacks”.
without providing evidence, Russia has also accused British troops of being involved in the attack. and involvement in last month’s explosions of Russian gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea.
In its response, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said Russia was “peddling disinformation on an epic scale.”
The Russian Defense Ministry said the drones used in Saturday’s attack targeted ships involved in the grain trade.
A few hours later, a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow said that “Russia cannot guarantee the safety of civilian dry cargo ships participating in the ‘Black Sea Initiative’ and that suspended implementation indefinitely“.
A UN spokesman said the organization, which negotiated the deal with Turkey, was in contact with Moscow, adding that it was “vital that all parties refrain from any actions that would jeopardize the Black Sea Cereals Initiative”.
Recently, Russia has been involved in what US and Ukrainian officials describe as disinformation campaignwith baseless claims that Kyiv is preparing a radioactive dirty bomb and biological mosquitoes.
Praised work
The agreement on “grain brokering” was facilitated by the United Nations and Turkey last July and allowed Ukraine to resume its grain exports to the Black Sea after Russia blocked them at the start of the invasion.
image source, Getty Images
Ukraine’s grain export deal has moderated the rise in global food prices over the past three months.
This was personally negotiated by the UN Secretary General and was hailed as a major diplomatic victory that helped alleviate the food price crisis.
Moreover, Russia complained that its exports were still hampered and suggested that he would not renew the agreement.
In recent days, Kyiv has accused Moscow of deliberately slowing the flow of ships, creating a queue of more than 170 ships.
You can now receive notifications from BBC World. Download the new version of our app and activate it so you don’t miss our best content.