Russia claimed Ukraine had attacked their Black Sea ships, but swiftly backed down.
Back in the summer, despite the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, the two countries cut a temporary ceasefire deal that would allow Ukrainian grain exports safe passage through the Black Sea shipping lanes. This deal was made to assuage concerns about global food shortages for the coming winter.
Over this past weekend, though, Moscow announced that they would be suspending their participation in the grain deal due to claims that Ukrainian drones had attacked their Black Sea vessels docked off the coast of Crimea. Ukraine denied any knowledge of such an attack, suggesting instead that Russian troops had been misusing or mishandling their own equipment.
Strangely, though, mere days after announcing their withdrawal from the deal, Russia has backpedaled and rejoined it. According to a statement from the Russian Defense Ministry, Ukraine has formally committed to maintaining the safety of the shipping lane “exclusively in accordance with the stipulations” of the agreement.
“The Russian Federation believes that the guarantees it has received currently appear sufficient, and resumes the implementation of the agreement,” the Ministry said. They added that additional mediation between Ukraine and Russia from Turkey and the United Nations is what will ensure their continued cooperation.
While the sudden walk-back was confusing, governmental bodies are content as long as the deal is still going through. “[The deal] is providing needed food to the world, so clearly Russia was finally convinced that they needed to continue this, they can’t stand in the way of feeding the entire world,” Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US Ambassador to the UN, told CNN.