Putin says Russia 'considering' withdrawal from grain deal

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday said Russia agreed for extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative several times, but is now considering a withdrawal.

Speaking at a meeting with military correspondents in Moscow, Putin said Russia was "once again deceived" and “nothing has been done” to implement its part of the agreement.

"We are now thinking about how we can get out of this grain deal ... these corridors, along which ships go, are constantly used by the enemy to launch drones, marine drones,” he said.

One of the corridors was used on Monday to attack the vessel that was guarding the TurkStream gas pipeline, the Russian leader said.

Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine signed the agreement in Istanbul last July to resume grain exports from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports, which were halted after the Ukraine war in February last year.

The deal has been renewed several times since then, and was extended for another two months on May 18.

Moscow has linked the inclusion of its state-owned Russian Agricultural Bank in the SWIFT international payment system to further extend the agreement. It has also complained that the deal fails to deliver on a promise to free up Russian agricultural exports said to have been blocked due to Western sanctions.

Putin said it is in Russia’s interests to maintain good relations with "friendly" states in Africa and Latin America. "We are not doing this for Ukraine, we are doing it for friendly countries in Africa and Latin America. Because grain should go first of all, serve to the poorest countries of the world," he said.

He called the income from grain exports the main source of Ukraine’s current earnings in foreign currency, as "everything else fell apart."

“They (the EU) are the main recipients of Ukrainian grain. It's cheaper. And it's good for them, and Ukraine is paid money for it. To date, I may be mistaken, but it seems to me that this is the main source of foreign currency earnings for Ukraine. Everything else has practically collapsed for them," he said.