Key parts of original Black Sea grain deal with Ukraine were never fulfilled – Kremlin

The Kremlin said on Monday that Russia and the United States will discuss resuming a deal to ensure the safety of merchant shipping in the Black Sea, noting that what Moscow saw as key parts of an earlier agreement on the subject were never implemented.

According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the Black Sea Initiative, commonly known as the grain deal, was on the agenda at talks in Saudi Arabia between Russian and U.S. officials on Monday.

Peskov said that U.S. President Donald Trump had proposed discussing the Black Sea deal and that Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to discuss it.

When asked what the Black Sea deal amounted to, Peskov said it is primarily about the safety of navigation.

“But if you remember the initiative in its previous form, there was quite a large part of the obligations to our country that were not fulfilled last time. Therefore, this will also be on the agenda today,” he said.

It should be recalled that Turkey and the United Nations had helped mediate the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a deal struck in July 2022 that allowed the safe export of nearly 33 million metric tons of Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea despite the war.

Russia reportedly withdrew from the agreement in 2023, complaining that its own food and fertilizer exports faced serious obstacles, though Russia is not currently facing serious problems getting its grain to market by the Black Sea.

Peskov further said that Russia and the United States had a common understanding of the need to move towards a settlement to end the war in Ukraine but that there were still many different aspects that needed to be worked out.

“There is indeed a common understanding here. In general, of course, there are still a lot of different aspects related to the settlement to be worked out,” he added.