Ukraine Open to Grain Truce with Russia Amid Global Food Price Concerns

Ukraine's deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Vsevolod Chentsov, said his country is open to a grain truce with Russia. In an interview at POLITICO's Brussels Playbook Live event on September 22, 2026, Chentsov noted that 'it's a good moment now to sit and talk, and to find a solution.'

The conflict over Ukraine's grain exports has led to concerns about global food prices, with Ukraine accounting for 15% of the world's corn exports, 10% of wheat, 15-20% of barley, and 50% of all sunflower oil before Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.

Russia launched attacks on port infrastructure and vessels anchored in Ukrainian Black Sea ports after its invasion, stopping Kyiv from exporting grain. Chentsov stated that 'they [Russia] try to lock our grain exports in the Black Sea, but we are doing the same.'

The escalation of hostilities in the Black Sea has made it a particularly dangerous place for commercial shipping, with more crew killed in July than during the entirety of the war before that month. Ukraine's harvest season is approaching, and Russia's attacks have halved grain exports compared to last year.