Putin U-turns and rejoins deal allowing grain to leave Ukraine

Russia has rejoined a deal to get grain shipments out of Ukraine, in an embarrassing about-turn for Moscow after ships left Black Sea ports despite Russian threats.

Furious with a suspected Ukrainian drone attack that penetrated defences around Russia's prized Black Sea fleet in Crimea over the weekend, Moscow warned it could no longer guarantee safe passage for ships carrying Ukrainian grain from the Black Sea to the Bosphorus and walked out of the deal.

In an unusual reversal, Russia’s Defence Ministry on Wednesday announced that the deal was back on, saying it had received assurances from Kyiv that the vessels would not be used to launch attacks on Russia - something it claims Ukraine did in Crimea.

Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, said he ordered the Russian military to re-join the deal after receiving Ukraine’s security guarantees via Turkish defence officials, but added: “Russia still reserves the right to withdraw from the agreement if Ukraine violates it.”

The internationally mediated deal this summer helped to secure vital supplies of Ukrainian grain to global markets, including some of the world’s poorest countries.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish President, who mediated the deal and counted it as his major foreign policy victory, told his party’s meeting in parliament on Wednesday that he spoke to President Putin on Tuesday and secured his support.

Ukraine and Turkey earlier defied Russia’s decision by sending several ships with grain across the sea on Monday and Tuesday.

Ukraine’s infrastructure ministry that oversees the deal said on Tuesday that 17 ships with Ukrainian foodstuffs had sailed across the Black Sea since Russia’s ban.

Andriy Yermak, head of staff of the Ukrainian president, celebrated Russia’s decision to give the green light to the shipment as a victory for Ukraine.

“In geopolitical terms, what happened in recent days is the beginning of an end of Russia’s years-long blackmail diplomacy,” he said.

Mr Putin’s announcement, however, irked some of the country’s hardliners as an inadequate response to the attack on the Black Sea fleet.

“Maybe I don’t get it, but the resumption of the grain deal, and the deal per se, make it look like we’ve been cuckolded,” state TV reporter Roman Sanopkov said on social media.

Tatyana Stanovaya, a long-time Kremlin watcher and head of the R. Politik political analysis firm, on Wednesday described Mr Putin’s decision as an example that a climbdown for the Kremlin is possible if it is driven into a corner.

“They walked out of the deal but couldn’t figure out how to stop the grain shipments - [apart from] with military means, which clearly wasn’t part of the plan,” she said.

“Instead they were forced to walk back on it and put on a brave face on it.”