Just hours after Russia reported explosions on the vital Crimean bridge, Moscow has refused to renew the Black Sea Grain Deal. However, Moscow has clarified that there are no links between the explosions and its decision to pull out from the deal at this stage. Kremlin has attributed its decision to a failure to meet its demands to implement a parallel agreement easing rules for its own food and fertiliser exports. Hours before the deadline for renewal was set to expire, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had said that Russia would “return” to the deal “immediately” if its demands about its exports were met. By the time the deal fell through, over 32 million metric tonnes of corn, wheat and other grains have been exported by Ukraine under the arrangement, with the last ship leaving Ukraine on Sunday. Russia claimed that the promises made to it under the deal have not been met, and it is still facing trouble exporting its own agricultural products and fertilisers because of the many sanctions the West has slapped on it. Although there is no direct restriction on Russia’s agricultural products, Moscow affirms that barriers on payment platforms, insurance, shipping and other logistics have been hampering its exports.

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