Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has hailed Russia’s turnaround in rejoining the UN-backed grain export deal, just days after the Kremlin threatened to pull out, as a “significant diplomatic outcome” for Ukraine and the “whole world”.
“Implementation of the grain export initiative will continue,” Zelenskiy said in his Wednesday evening address.
Russia initially said it would abandon the brokered deal that allowed exports of grain from Ukraine through the Black Sea, following a dramatic drone attack on its warships in the port of Sevastopol. Russia’s defence ministry said it was satisfied it had received “sufficient” guarantees from Kyiv that it would not use the maritime corridor to carry out attacks.
“We demanded assurances and guarantees from the Ukrainian side that nothing like this would happen again, that the humanitarian corridors would not be used militarily,” Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, said during a video meeting with his coordination council on Wednesday.
However, Zelenskiy said the Kremlin’s call for guarantees showed “the failure of the Russian aggression”, noting: “Russian blackmail has led nowhere”.
After eight months of war “the Kremlin is saying that they demanded security guarantees from Ukraine”, he said. “Two hundred and fifty two days ago Russia demanded security guarantees from the United States of America.
“These are really striking changes. This shows both the failure of Russian aggression and how strong you and I are when we remain united.”
Russia’s decision to rejoin the UN grain corridor has been seen as a humiliating U-turn by Ukraine and its western allies.
“Putin was once again humiliated … the Kremlin blackmailer once again made himself a laughing stock before the whole world and retreated,” Anton Gerashchenko, a senior presidential adviser to Volodymyr Zelenskiy, wrote over Telegram on Wednesday night.
Mykhalio Podolyak, another of Zelenskiy’s senior advisers, described Russia as “a gambler in a casino who has been lucky several times” but “went all-in … and lost”.
British foreign secretary James Cleverley said Vladimir Putin realised he “shot himself in the foot” by stopping ships from entering Ukrainian ports.
“Putin must stop using food as a weapon,” he said. “The grain initiative must now be extended beyond November without further Russian impediments.”
Putin must stop using food as a weapon.
He has realised he shot himself in the foot by stopping ships from entering Ukrainian ports to load up grain to feed the world.
The Grain Initiative must now be extended beyond November without further Russian impediments.
— James Cleverly🇬🇧 (@JamesCleverly) November 2, 2022
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Putin must stop using food as a weapon.
He has realised he shot himself in the foot by stopping ships from entering Ukrainian ports to load up grain to feed the world.
The Grain Initiative must now be extended beyond November without further Russian impediments.
— James Cleverly🇬🇧 (@JamesCleverly) November 2, 2022
Andrey Sizov, head of the Russia-focused Sovecon agriculture consultancy, said Moscow’s decision was “quite an unexpected turnaround” but the deal remained shaky given uncertainty about whether it would be extended past its 19 November expiry.
The United States, however, welcomed the restoration of the deal and urged Russia to renew it later this month.
State department spokesperson Ned Price praised UN and Turkish mediators but said it was important that the deal is “not only set back in motion, but it’s renewed later this month.”
Secretary of state Antony Blinken thanked Turkey for its efforts and reminded Moscow of the “importance of continued adherence to UN-brokered agreements and its commitments to support global food security,” a statement said.
Reuters contributed to this report