EU seeks to avert Black Sea food crisis as Russia-Ukraine shipping war cuts wheat exports

September 15, 2026 at 04:54 PM2 min

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EU officials heading to the UN General Assembly on September 18 aim to prevent a repeat of the 2022 global food crisis. Black Sea wheat exports from Russia and Ukraine fell from 6.3 million tons in August 2025 to 2.5 million tons in August 2026, pushing grain prices up about 25 percent since January. The EU is preparing a diplomatic push to counter Kremlin narratives blaming Western sanctions for rising food prices.

Key Facts

Combined Russian and Ukrainian wheat exports through the Black Sea fell from 6.3 million tons in August 2025 to 2.5 million tons in August 2026.
Grain prices are about 25 percent higher than at the start of 2026.
Ukraine attacked Russia's largest deep-sea commercial hub at Novorossiisk in August 2026, disrupting a port that until recently handled about 70 percent of Russian grain exports.
A third of global wheat exports sail from Russian and Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea and the adjacent Sea of Azov.
The EU abandoned plans to sanction Russian food and agricultural produce after the 2022 food crisis, an approach that still holds.

Black Sea Shipping War

Ukraine and Russia have traded increasingly intense blows in the Black Sea over the summer, repeatedly targeting each other's vessels. Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian ships in recent months, but Kyiv is now capable of retaliating with drones that can reach targets across much of Russia's Black Sea coast. In August 2026, Ukraine successfully attacked Russia's largest deep-sea commercial hub at Novorossiisk, from which Russia until recently shipped some 70 percent of its grain exports. These hostilities have made the developing world nervous, especially as a third of global wheat exports sail from Russian and Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea and the adjacent Sea of Azov.

EU Diplomatic Response

EU officials heading to the UN General Assembly in New York, which starts on September 18, aim to avoid another global food crisis like the one in 2022. In 2022, Ukraine and the EU faced considerable blame in parts of the Global South, fueled by Kremlin messaging that portrayed Western sanctions as responsible for rising food prices. This forced the EU to abandon any plans to sanction Russian food and agricultural produce, an approach that still holds today. Brussels had to go on a big global diplomatic charm offensive to explain that the surging food prices had nothing to do with EU sanctions on Russia. Heading into this year's UN gathering, EU officials know that another diplomatic charm offensive might be needed.