US official: Moscow to incur diplomatic costs if it quits grain deal

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has said that the diplomatic cost for Moscow would be enormous if Russia withdraws from the Black Sea grain agreement.

"If Russia withdraws from the agreement, the world would describe it as 'Russia has turned its back on ensuring that the countries of the global south and Africa and Latin America and Asia can get the food they need at affordable prices'. And I think that will come at an enormous diplomatic cost to Russia going forward," Anadolu Agency quotes Sullivan as saying.

"I can't predict what [Russian President] Vladimir Putin will do. He has been all over the map with respect to this initiative over the course of the past many months. It is possible that Russia pulls out of it, it is possible they continue," he stated.

"We are prepared for any scenario and we're working closely with the Ukrainians on that," he added.

A year ago, Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine signed an agreement in Istanbul to resume grain exports from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports which had been paused after the Russia-Ukraine war began that February.

A Joint Coordination Center was set up in Istanbul with officials from the three countries and the UN to oversee the shipments.

However, Russian officials have strongly hinted that this month they could block the extension of the grain deal, complaining that parts of the deal to allow Russian exports have gone unfulfilled.