NATO on Sunday asked Moscow to urgently extend a UN-brokered deal that allowed Ukraine to resume grain exports across the Black Sea amid the global food crisis, Reuters reported. For his part, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says he is “deeply concerned” by the situation created by Russia, AFP reports.

“President Putin must stop using food as a weapon and stop his illegal war against Ukraine,” NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said. “We call on Russia to reconsider its decision and extend the emergency agreement, allowing food to reach those who need it most.”

All NATO allies welcomed the agreement, which was reached with the help of Turkey, she said.

“These exports contributed to lower food prices around the world,” Lungescu added.

The UN Secretary General is “deeply concerned”

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is “deeply concerned” by the situation regarding the Ukraine grain export deal suspended by Russia, his spokesman said in a statement on Sunday.

Guterres is in “intense consultations” to get Russia to reconsider its decision to suspend the deal, which is why he decided to delay his departure for a day to attend an Arab League summit in Algeria on Tuesday.

On Sunday, EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said the European Union “calls on Russia to reconsider its decision” to suspend its participation in an agreement to export grain from Ukrainian ports, which is vital to the world’s food supply.

The decision “jeopardizes the main export route for grain and grain that we need to respond to the world food crisis caused by the war,” Borrell insisted.

Russia told UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in a letter seen by Reuters that it was suspending the agreement for an “indefinite period” because it could not “guarantee the safety of civilian vessels” traveling under the agreement.

Russia accuses the UK of involvement in the drone attack on the Russian fleet in the Black Sea

Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Sunday it had found and analyzed the wreckage of drones used to attack Russian Black Sea Fleet ships in Crimea the day before, Reuters reported.

Russia has accused Britain of facilitating the drone attack in Sevastopol by British “specialists”.

Moscow returned on Sunday with the same accusations.

“After repelling an attack by terrorists on October 29 on ships that participated in the provision of the “grain corridor” <...>wreckage of unmanned marine vehicles used by the Kyiv regime under the leadership of British representatives was discovered and brought to the surface,” the ministry said in a statement quoted by RIA.

Britain said on Saturday that Russian claims, including that British naval personnel blew up the Nord Stream pipeline last month, were false and aimed at deflecting attention from Russian military failures.

The importance of the agreement suspended by Russia

The agreement, reached in July, was intended to prevent famine due to exports of wheat, sunflower oil and fertilizer to world markets and ease a sharp rise in prices.

The UN’s World Food Program said at the time of the agreement that some 47 million people have entered the stage of “acute hunger” as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has halted Ukrainian transport.

The agreement, signed on July 22, was valid for 120 days, and the United Nations expected it to be extended if the war did not end by then. It ensured safe passage to and from Odesa and two other Ukrainian ports under a de facto ceasefire for ships carrying food.

According to UN Under-Secretary for Humanitarian Aid Martin Griffith, more than 9 million tons of grain and other food products have been exported since the signing of the agreement. He added that the agreement helped reduce food prices and increase export volumes.

On Wednesday, he said he was “relatively optimistic” that the deal that allowed Ukrainian grain exports to resume from the Black Sea would be extended beyond mid-November.

Shortly before the announcement of the suspension of the grain agreement, the Minister of Agriculture of Russia again criticized the text, accusing EU countries of monopolizing Ukrainian exports, which should go to poor countries. According to AFP, these accusations were previously rejected by the coordination center located in Turkey.

“Unfortunately, the grain agreement not only did not solve the problems of countries in need, but actually in a certain sense exacerbated them,” said Dmytro Patrushev.