The Vital Importance of the Black Sea Grain Initiative

Russia announced today that it is no longer facilitating the Black Sea Grain Initiative. The deal, agreed upon last July, was brokered to avoid a global food crisis by allowing the safe export of Ukrainian grain otherwise blocked by the war.

Speaking about Russia's position on the Initiative which was due for renewal from today, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said: "The Black Sea agreements ceased to be valid today," adding: "Unfortunately, the part of these Black Sea agreements concerning Russia has not been implemented so far, so its effect is terminated.” Referring to his country's dim view of the implementation of agreements regarding the Russian export of agricultural products and fertilizers, Peskov said: "As soon as the Russian part of the agreements is fulfilled, the Russian side will return to the implementation of this deal, immediately".

As this infographic shows, the flow of cereal out of Ukraine's Black Sea ports is of vital importance. Since the beginning of the Initiative, 32.9 million tonnes of grain have been shipped out of Ukraine.