Russia said Monday that it was pausing its participation in an agreement that allowed Ukraine to export its grain by sea despite a wartime blockade, upending a deal seen as essential to keeping global food prices stable.
The announcement appeared to be the most serious blow yet to a year-old agreement that had been a rare example of cooperation between the warring nations, and had helped to alleviate part of the fallout from Russia’s full-scale invasion. Ukraine is a major producer of grain and other foodstuffs, and the United Nations had warned that some countries in the Middle East and Africa faced famine if Ukraine could not export its goods via the Black Sea.