“Food must never be used as a weapon”: EU calls for Black Sea attack moratorium
The push comes as attacks have made the route increasingly dangerous and costly for commercial shipping, threatening a key trade lifeline for Ukraine and a major source of food for global markets.
EU Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas urged an immediate cessation of attacks in the Black Sea to restore safe shipping lanes and enable Ukraine's vital grain exports to reach global markets. This plea came during a UN General Assembly side event held in New York on September 22, co-chaired by Kallas and foreign ministers from France, Romania, and Ukraine.
Since June, Russia has been systematically targeting Ukrainian ports, grain terminals, and commercial cargo ships in the Black Sea, resulting in crew fatalities and severely disrupting the export corridor that carries the majority of Ukraine's agricultural products. This Russian campaign, part of its ongoing war now in its fifth year, has significantly impacted global food supply chains and put the Black Sea on a path toward a crisis that could surpass the 2022 grain-price shock.
Kallas noted that Black Sea exports had effectively halted since August due to the escalating Russian attacks, making commercial shipping commercially unviable. She emphasized that Russia accounts for 15% of global corn exports, 10% of wheat, 15-20% of barley, and about 50% of sunflower oil, with around 90% of these products moving through the Black Sea corridor.
Egypt, the world's largest wheat importer, has started diverting some purchases away from Russia and Ukraine as costs have risen. Kallas described her proposal as a new "Black Sea grain arrangement," distinct from the 2022 deal brokered by Turkey and the United Nations that Russia abandoned in July 2023. She stressed that the 2022 grain-price surge highlighted the Black Sea's strategic importance for global security, international trade, energy, and food security.
Kallas called on the international community to ensure safe passage of civilian vessels, protect critical infrastructure, and reinstate the trade route. If Russia ceased its Black Sea attacks, farmers, traders, and international food markets would have the necessary predictability at this critical juncture. In 2025 alone, the EU allocated €2.1 billion to bolster global food security, and the EU Solidarity Lanes facilitated approximately €304 billion in trade since May 2022.
Kallas highlighted the EU's particular concern over the Black Sea attacks and Russia's attempts to choke off Ukrainian grain exports, thereby jeopardizing global food security. Moscow has not publicly responded to Kallas' call. The Russian military intensified strikes on Ukrainian ports and commercial shipping in June and July, cutting Ukrainian deepwater terminal capacity from around 7 million to 4-5 million metric tons per month.
Ukrainian forces retaliated by striking Russia's grain terminals in Novorossiysk and Taman, severely impacting Russia's Azov-Black Sea grain export capacity. Russia's latest attack involved the sinking of a cargo ship under an Antigua and Barbuda flag in the Black Sea, killing its Ukrainian captain. The Lloyd's of London Joint War Committee extended its high-risk designation to the entire Black Sea, driving war-risk insurance premiums to hundreds of thousands of dollars per voyage.
Alternative routes through the Danube have partially compensated, but shipping from Ukraine to Egypt has lengthened to 26-33 days, more than double the pre-attack timeframe. The attacks continue unabated, with Russia sinking another cargo ship in the Black Sea on September 23, killing its captain, a Ukrainian national. Ukraine's sea ports administration reported that the Navy evacuated the crew and extinguished the fire.
Written by urgent.news from Euromaidan Press's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
