Russia’s withdrawal from the deal allowing Ukraine to safely export grain through the Black Sea is a “stab on the back” for those in drought-hit countries, Kenya’s government has said.
Kenya is in a region experiencing one of the worst droughts in decades.
Moscow said on Monday that it would not renew the deal, accusing the West of not keeping its side of the bargain.
The Russian blockade of Ukrainian ports last year threatened to cause food shortages in parts of Africa.
Grain prices also soared, but the deal, brokered in July 2022 by Turkey and the UN. allowed vital Ukrainian produce back on the world market.
Russia’s decision was condemned by world leaders, who said it would affect some of the planet’s poorest people.
Russia said it would return to the agreement if its conditions were met.
“The decision by Russia to exit the Black Sea Grain Initiative is a stab on the back at global food security prices and disproportionately impacts countries in the Horn of Africa already impacted by drought,” Korir Sing’Oei PS Foreign Affairs said in a tweet.
More than 50 million people across Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia and South Sudan are in need of food aid because of successive years of failed rains.
Russia said that Ukraine’s failure to export more grain to poorer countries was one of the reasons it pulled out of the deal.
However, the UN said that under the grain deal, Ukraine has shipped 625,000 tonnes of food as humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
The deal formally came to an end at just after midnight on Tuesday Istanbul time (21:00 GMT). It had let cargo ships pass through the Black Sea from the ports of Odesa, Chornomorsk and Yuzhny/Pivdennyi.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had long complained that parts of the deal allowing the export of Russian food and fertilisers had not been honoured.
Russia also complained that Western sanctions were restricting its own agricultural exports. Mr Putin repeatedly threatened to pull out of the agreement.
The country’s foreign ministry on Monday reiterated these grievances, accusing the West of “open sabotage” and of “selfishly” putting the commercial interests of the deal ahead of its humanitarian goals.
But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters he believed that Mr Putin “wants to continue the agreement” and that they would discuss the renewal of the deal when they meet in person next month.
The grain deal is important as Ukraine is one of the world’s largest exporters of sunflower, maize, wheat and barley.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country intended to continue exporting grain, highlighting that the agreement was made up of two deals that mirrored each other – one signed by Ukraine and the other by Russia.
“We are not afraid,” he said of Russia’s decision to withdraw from their deal.
“We were approached by companies who own vessels and they’re willing to continue shipping grain if Ukraine agrees to let them in and Turkey – to pass them through.”
