Russia Warns That Sanctions Could End Grain Agreement

Former Russian President Dimitri Medvedev cautioned Western nations that grain shipments from Ukraine may be limited due to sanctions against Russia. He said that if potential Group of Seven (G7) sanctions are enacted, Russia may limit such exports to the rest of the world.

Medvedev was responding to a potential near-total ban on exports to Russia by members of the G7, which represents the seven largest economies on the globe. Should the trade restrictions come to pass, Russia may end its agreement to allow such grain exports.

The deal to allow such shipments ends May 18th.

The initial agreement was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in which millions of tons of Ukrainian grain could be exported through the Black Sea.

The former Russian president took to social media, writing on Telegram that Moscow would end the program. He wrote in part that “the grain deal—and many other things that they need—will end for them.”

Moscow stated that the grain deal will end next month if Western nations do not lift sanctions on Russian agricultural exports. The Russian Grain Union, for example, said that the existing deal has not benefited Moscow.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will meet with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to discuss a possible extension of the agreement.

The G7 nations met last week to describe a number of issues, including the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.

The group released a statement that said that it remained “committed to intensifying sanctions against Russia, coordinating and fully enforcing them.”

The organization said that such restrictions will continue for “as long as it takes.”

The assembled diplomats called for an extension of the grain agreement, stating that the countries supported the expansion and “full implementation” of the deal.

The group also stated that it condemned “Russia’s attempts to use food as a means of destabilization and as a tool of geopolitical coercion.”

The G7 statement blamed what it called “Russia’s weaponization of food.”

Members of the group also challenged China over increasing tensions with Taiwan.