Russia said on Wednesday it would resume its participation in a deal that allows Ukraine to export grain through the Black Sea, just four days after suspending its role in the deal because of Ukraine’s attack on Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, Reuters reported.
Late last week, Moscow backed down, saying it could not guarantee the safety of civilian vessels crossing the Black Sea because of a drone attack on its fleet.
“The Russian Federation considers the received guarantees to be sufficient and resumes the implementation of the agreements,” said the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.
The upheaval followed a phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday and repeated talks between the two heads of state’s defense ministers.
Moscow changed its mind
The Russian Ministry of Defense said that thanks to the involvement of the UN and Turkey, it was possible to obtain written guarantees from Ukraine that the humanitarian corridor and Ukrainian ports would not be used for military operations against Russia.
Moscow has previously said it would be risky and unacceptable for the ships to continue sailing through the humanitarian corridor established in July under a deal struck between Turkey and the United Nations.
Despite Russia’s withdrawal from the UN-brokered deal, ships continued to export Ukrainian grain, and a record volume was transported on Monday.
The Kremlin “caught a trap”
Russian political scientist Tetiana Stanova said Wednesday’s statement was an admission by Putin that he could not block supplies.
“The Kremlin itself simply fell into a trap from which it did not know how to get out,” she said.
“He needed to take a step back and show a good (not so good) figure when faced with a bad game. That is, Putin, no matter how worried he is about Ukraine, his historical mission and belief in his rightness, he remains a moderately rational politician who knows how to retreat when necessary,” added Tetyana Stanova.
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Source: Hot News RU
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