The cancellation of the grain deal led to an increase in world prices for wheat and corn

Prices for wheat and corn on world commodity markets rose sharply on Monday after Russia announced the termination of the grain deal. This is reported by the CNN channel.

The White House warned that Russia’s decision “will worsen food security and harm millions of vulnerable people around the world,” and called on Russia to “immediately reverse its decision.”

“The Black Sea Grain Initiative played a decisive role in reducing food prices around the world, which rose sharply as a result of Russia’s brutal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine,” CNN quoted the representative of the US National Security Council, Adam Hodge.

UN Secretary General António Guterres said that he deeply regrets Russia’s decision to withdraw from the grain deal and the withdrawal of Russian guarantees of navigation safety in the northwestern part of the Black Sea. According to him, the agreement helped reduce food prices by more than 23 percent since the beginning of the war.

“Hundreds of millions of people are facing hunger, and consumers are facing a global crisis in the cost of living. They will pay for it,” Guterres said.

Head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen named Russia’s cynical decision to withdraw from the grain deal. She also promised that the EU will continue exporting Ukrainian agricultural products.

Great Britain called the decision of the Russian authorities “a blatant demand to harm the most vulnerable in the framework of its illegal war.” The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, Wopke Hoekstra, called on Russia to resume the grain deal. “It is completely immoral that Russia continues to turn food into a weapon”, – wrote he’s on twitter.

The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, said that Kyiv can continue grain deliveries through the Black Sea Corridor, despite Russia’s exit from the grain deal. Zelensky’s quote from an interview with African journalists was published on Facebook by his press secretary Sergey Nikiforov.

“Even without the Russian Federation, everything must be done so that we can use this Black Sea corridor. We are not afraid. We have been approached by companies that recognize the owners of the ships. They said that they are ready to continue supplying grain if Ukraine is ready to release it, and Turkey will not allow it.” – said Zelensky.

He noted that two agreements were signed as part of the grain deal: the first was concluded by Russia, Turkey and the UN, the second by Ukraine, Turkey and the UN. “Therefore, when Russia says that it is stopping [зерновую сделку], it terminates its agreements with UN Secretary General Guterres and President Erdoğan. Not with us. We did not have any agreements with them,” Zelensky said.

He added that he had already given an order to prepare official signals to the UN and Turkey regarding the agreement.

• The grain deal, according to which food is exported from Black Sea ports blocked by Russia, was concluded in July last year with the assistance of Turkey and the UN. The agreement was extended several times. The last time was May 17.
• One of the conditions put forward by Russia for the extension of the grain transaction is the reconnection of Rosselkhozbank to the SWIFT international bank payment processing system, from which it was disconnected due to sanctions. Moscow also insists on removing obstacles to the export of Russian grain, fertilizers and ammonia supplies to Europe through Ukraine.
• At the beginning of June, Ukraine accused Russia of a new suspension of the grain initiative. In Kyiv, they claimed that the Russian side had blocked the registration of vessels in all Ukrainian ports, and called these actions a “gross violation” of the agreements.