NATO’s deputy secretary general Mircea Geoană condemned, in a Facebook post, Russia’s unilateral decision to pull out of the agreement that had guaranteed Ukraine’s grain exports via the Black Sea for the past year.
In spite of the efforts of the UN and Turkey, the 4-party agreement signed by Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the UN expired at midnight on Monday, after it was last extended for 2 months in May. Russia declined a new extension of the deal signed on July 22 last year, on grounds of the obstacles faced by the trade in Russian agricultural products.
The last shipment of agricultural products from Ukraine via the Black Sea was inspected on Monday night in Istanbul, a few hours before the expiry of the international agreement. The EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borell also condemned Russia’s decision to withdraw from the agreement which, in spite of the war, allowed the export of over 3 million tonnes of Ukrainian grain and agricultural products.
Radio Romania International
