Russia said on Wednesday that it was rejoining a deal that allows the shipment of grain from Ukrainian ports through the Black Sea, easing days of uncertainty over the fate of an agreement that had offered hope to countries facing severe food shortages — and appearing to restore one of the few areas of cooperation between the two countries.
Moscow had suspended its participation in the deal over the weekend after an attack on Russian naval ships in the Black Sea port of Sevastopol that it blamed on Ukraine, and claimed that the sea corridor used to transport grain was unsafe for its own ships. There have been no reports of security incidents involving the hundreds of cargo ships that have transited the sea under the July agreement, carrying more than
10 million tons of grain and other agricultural products to world markets, including at least 15 ships that departed Ukraine since Moscow withdrew from the agreement on Saturday.