NATO, Ukraine condemn Russia's withdrawal from Black Sea grain deal

NATO and Ukraine condemned Russia's withdrawal from Black Sea grain deal, the alliance chief said on Wednesday.

"We condemn Russia's withdrawal from the grain deal, its cynical weaponisation of hunger, and its dangerous actions in the Black Sea," Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg tweeted after an "important" meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council.

"NATO is united — Allies continue to step up for Ukraine, and increase vigilance in the region," he added.

Last week, Russia pulled out of the Black Sea grain deal, saying the Russian part of the agreement was not being implemented, i.e. the removal of obstacles to its fertilizer exports, including the inclusion of the state-owned Russian Agricultural Bank in the SWIFT international payment system.

The agreement, signed in July of last year in Istanbul by Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine, was aimed at resuming grain exports from Ukrainian ports, which had been halted as a result of the Ukraine war which began that February.

The NATO-Ukraine Council was launched at the Vilnius summit earlier this month to bring Kyiv "closer" to the 31-member group.