Russia has resumed its participation in a deal to allow grain shipments to leave Ukraine, according to the Russian Ministry of Defence.
The statement said, with the assistance of Turkey, Russia had received “written guarantees” from Ukraine assuring that the “humanitarian corridor” would only be used in accordance with the deal.
Russian authorities said that it believed that these guarantees are “adequate” and that, therefore, it would resume implementation of the agreement.
The UN was informed by Russia last week that, while it suspended its participation in the implementation of the deal (on foot of an alleged attack by Ukraine on Russian shipping), it would “continue the dialogue with the UN and the Turkish delegation on pressing issues”.
Russia had been heavily criticised for pulling out of the agreement.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy had reaffirmed his country’s commitment to the grain deal, and stressed the importance of continuing the Black Sea Grain Initiative, despite Russia suspending its participation.
The Council of the EU, meanwhile had said that Russia’s “unjustified decision” to suspend its participation in the deal obstructs the export of “much-needed grain to address the global food crisis”.
Grain exports out of Ukraine had initially resumed after a deal was originally signed in July, following months of intensive talks brokered by the UN and Turkey. Ukraine had been unable to export grain by cargo ship since February 24.
As of Sunday, October 30, the total tonnage of grain and food stuffs moved from Ukrainian ports under the UN Black Sea Grain Initiative exceeded 9.5 million tonnes, according to the Joint Coordination Centre (JCC), which oversees implementation of the initiative.
The Russian delegation to the JCC had previously raised concerns about the safety of movements of merchant vessels under the deal, after a preliminary inspection of a possible “mine-like” object in the humanitarian corridor was performed early last week.
To continue fulfilling the deal, it was proposed that the Turkish and UN delegations would provide inspection teams.
21 vessels are currently engaged in the initiative, that are in or near three Ukrainian ports, with a total capacity of over 700,000t.