RIYADH: Russia’s withdrawal on Saturday from the UN-brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative is “politically irresponsible and undermines the humanitarian situation in the Middle East and North Africa,” Ukraine’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Anatolii Petrenko told Arab News.
Russia suspended its participation in the deal after what it said was a major Ukrainian drone attack on its naval fleet in Crimea.
Petrenko said: “It’s crucial to underscore that Russia concluded this grain initiative with the UN and Turkiye.” As such, its withdrawal “shows its inconsistency and unreliability to its commitments.”
He added: “As we speak, 176 ships with 2 million tons of grain on board are being blocked by Russia, waiting to be granted passage to their final destinations.”
Arab News tried to obtain comment from the Russian Embassy in Riyadh, but no response camw at the time of publishing the report.
The aim of the Black Sea Grain Initiative was to distribute vital food and fertilizer exports from Ukraine to the rest of the world. Petrenko said Ukraine is committed to maintaining its role as a “reliable grain supplier.”
On Saturday, Russian Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev said with assistance from Turkey, his country was ready to supplant Ukrainian grain and supply up to 500,000 tons to countries in need in the next four months for free, Reuters reported.
Petrenko said: “We have serious reasons to believe that this is an attempt to smuggle grain previously stolen from the occupied territories of Ukraine.”
He urged Russia to “reverse its withdrawal” from the initiative and “recommit itself” to its implementation.
Russian withdrawal from grain deal will hurt MENA: Ukraine envoy
https://arab.news/cz7b2
Russian withdrawal from grain deal will hurt MENA: Ukraine envoy
- On Saturday, Russian Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev said with assistance from Turkey, his country was ready to supplant Ukrainian grain
Trump says he asked Putin not to target Kyiv for 1 week during brutal cold spell
- “I personally asked President Putin not to fire on Kyiv and the cities and towns for a week during this ... extraordinary cold,” Trump said
- Zelensky, for his part, thanked Trump for his effort and welcomed the “possibility” of a pause
KYIV: US President Donald Trump said Thursday that President Vladimir Putin has agreed not to target the Ukrainian capital and other towns for one week as the region experiences frigid temperatures.
There was no immediate confirmation from the Kremlin that Putin has agreed to such a pause.
Russia has been pounding Ukraine’s critical infrastructure, hoping to wear down public resistance to the war while leaving many around the country having to endure the dead of winter without heat.
“I personally asked President Putin not to fire on Kyiv and the cities and towns for a week during this ... extraordinary cold,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting at the White House, adding that Putin has “agreed to that.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was asked earlier Thursday whether a mutual halt on strikes on energy facilities was being discussed between Russia and Ukraine, and he refused to comment on the issue.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky late Wednesday had warned that Moscow was planning another large-scale barrage despite plans for further US-brokered peace talks at the weekend.
Trump said he was pleased that Putin has agreed to the pause. Kyiv, which has grappled with severe power shortages this winter, is forecast to enter a brutally cold stretch starting Friday that is expected to last into next week. Temperatures in some areas will drop to minus 30 degrees Celsius (minus 22 Fahrenheit), the State Emergency Service warned.
“A lot of people said, ‘Don’t waste the call. You’re not going to get that.’” the Republican US president said of his request of Putin. “And he did it. And we’re very happy that they did it.”
Zelensky, for his part, thanked Trump for his effort and welcomed the “possibility” of a pause in Russian military action on Kyiv and beyond. “Power supply is a foundation of life,” Zelensky said in his social media post.
Trump did not say when the call with Putin took place or when the ceasefire would go into effect. The White House did not immediately respond to a query seeking clarity about the scope and timing of the limited pause in the nearly four-year war.
Russia has sought to deny Ukrainian civilians heat and running water over the course of the war, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022. Ukrainian officials describe the strategy as “weaponizing winter.”
Last year was the deadliest for civilians in Ukraine since 2022 as Russia intensified its aerial barrages behind the front line, according to the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in the country.
The war killed 2,514 civilians and injured 12,142 in Ukraine — 31 percent higher than in 2024, it said.
