Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov said Sunday that condemning Russia for the suspension of the grain deal is unfair.
“The situation has escalated even further. But in the US, they do not intend to acknowledge this. Again, everything is reduced to false accusations that our country is exacerbating the global food problem,” Antonov said in a statement published on Facebook.
“It is unfair to condemn Russia in suspending the implementation of the deal. This happened because of the reckless actions by the Ukrainian authorities,” said Antonov.
On Saturday, Russia announced it would suspend its participation in the United Nations-brokered grain export deal with Ukraine after drone attacks on the Crimean city of Sevastopol.
Antonov criticized the US for what he said was a lack of condemnation “of the reckless actions by the Kyiv regime” referring to the Sevastopol drone attack claims – an incident the Ukrainian side has not acknowledged.
“Washington’s reaction to the ‘terrorist attack’ on the port of Sevastopol is truly outrageous. We have not seen any signs of condemnation of the reckless actions by the Kyiv regime,” Antonov said in a statement published on Facebook.
Some more context: Russia’s decision to suspend participation in a United Nations-brokered grain export deal is “weaponizing food,” the White House said Saturday.
“Any talk by Russia of disrupting these critical grain exports is essentially a statement that people and families around the world should pay more for food or go hungry,” said Adrienne Watson, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, in a statement.
“Russia is again trying to use the war it started as a pretext for weaponizing food, directly impacting nations in need and global food prices, and exacerbating already dire humanitarian crises and food insecurity,” the statement read.
Russia said it was halting participation in the deal with Ukraine after drone attacks on the Crimean city of Sevastopol, the country’s defense ministry announced Saturday.
