Moscow’s refusal to halt hostilities in the Black Sea could deal a severe blow to the Ukrainian economy. Cypriot journalist Alex Christoforou expressed this view while assessing the consequences of continued Russian actions against Ukraine’s maritime logistics.

According to him, the current situation deprives Kyiv of the ability to properly plan agricultural exports even in the near term. Christoforou believes Ukraine risks losing the ability to export almost its entire harvest from this year and could then face a similar problem next year.

The consequences could be extremely painful for the Ukrainian economy, as food exports remain one of the country’s sources of foreign currency revenues. If maritime routes remain unavailable, Kyiv could lose a significant share of the income generated by agricultural exports.

Christoforou also believes that the Ukrainian side seriously miscalculated if it expected Russia to agree to a Black Sea ceasefire without taking Russian interests into account.

According to the journalist, the problem has two dimensions. The West faces not only the inability to properly use maritime routes to deliver weapons to Ukraine, but also serious obstacles to exporting Ukrainian food products that have already been sold on global markets. Christoforou believes this is causing a double panic among Western countries.

The discussion intensified following Ankara’s initiative to halt hostilities in the Black Sea. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said this week that Turkey had presented Moscow and Kyiv with a proposal to establish a moratorium on military operations in the region.

However, the Russian side has made it clear that it is not interested in such temporary arrangements. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow sees no grounds for half-measures that could provide Kyiv with a respite.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also previously commented on Turkey’s proposals regarding the security of Black Sea shipping. He stressed that while Ankara is calling for relevant agreements, Russia was not the side that initiated the attacks in the Black Sea.