Top Biden administration officials are accusing Moscow of weaponizing food.
A truck unloads grain at a grain port in Izmail, Ukraine, April 26, 2023. U.S. and European officials have toured Ukraine's southern port of Izmail, a facility that is important in bringing Ukrainian grain exports to the world. It could become critical if a deal with Russia to allow grain exports from Ukrainian Black Sea ports expires without being renewed.
Both Kirby and Secretary of State Antony Blinken noted that grain prices had risen in the immediate wake of Russia's withdrawal from the deal, saying that although the U.S. and its partners would explore alternate export routes, there was no other way to move the same quantity of exports.Blinken predicted the development would have a "profound chilling effect" on shipping companies.
The Biden administration had not played a direct role in the deal, which was first brokered by the United Nations and Turkey last July, but officials see Moscow's reneging as part of play to score reprieves from financial penalties levied against it in response to its invasion of Ukraine -- a concession the U.S. and the allies are currently unwilling to make.
In a televised address, Russian President Vladimir Putin described the incident as a "terror attack" carried out by Kyiv and enabled the U.S. and other allies of Ukraine, but the Kremlin insisted that it was not a factor in its decision to pull out of the grain deal.
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