\u201cUkraine must guarantee that there will be no threats to civilian vessels or to Russian supply vessels,\u201d said Putin
\n Moscow
\nRussia is not ending its participation in a deal to export much-needed Ukrainian grain through Black Sea ports but rather is suspending it, President Vladimir Putin said on Monday.
\nPutin\u2019s comments were his first since Moscow announced on Saturday it was freezing participation in the United Nations-brokered Black Sea agreement after what it said was a major Ukrainian drone attack on its fleet in Crimea.
\n\u201cWe are not saying that we are ceasing our participation in this operation. No, we are saying that we are suspending it,\u201d Putin told a televised news conference.
\nPutin said the Ukrainian drones had travelled through the same corridors the grain ships used.
\n\u201cAnd thus they created a threat both to our ships, which must ensure the safety of grain exports, and to the civilian ships that are engaged in this,\u201d he said. Kyiv has not claimed responsibility for the attack.
\nOther participants in the deal pressed ahead with the export of grain on Monday, even though Russia said this was risky.
\n\u201cUkraine must guarantee that there will be no threats to civilian vessels or to Russian supply vessels,\u201d said Putin, noting that under the terms of the deal, Russia is responsible for ensuring security.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cUkraine must guarantee that there will be no threats to civilian vessels or to Russian supply vessels,\u201d said Putin Moscow Russia is not ending its participation in a deal to export much-needed Ukrainian grain through Black Sea ports but rather is suspending it, President Vladimir Putin said on Monday. Putin\u2019s comments were his first since […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":293007,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-292986","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n