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☆ Ukraine's Odesa opens a few beaches for the first time since Russian invasion
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] People relax at a Black Sea beach that was reopened after being closed down last year following sea mines laid around the ports of Odesa and Mykolaiv by Russia and Ukraine, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine August 10, 2023. REUTERS/Serhii Smolientsev/File photoODESA, Ukraine, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Several beaches in Ukraine's Black Sea city of Odesa have officially opened for swimming for the first time since the start of the Russian invasion, although bathing is banned during air raid alerts, local officials said on Saturday. Odesa, Ukraine's largest port and naval base, was repeatedly attacked with missiles and drones and the sea was littered with hundreds of sea mines following the invasion in February last year. For the safety of residents and after incidents of mines exploding on beaches, the coast was closed. The decision to open the beaches was made jointly by the city's civilian and military administrations, Odesa Governor Oleh Kiper said on Telegram messaging app.

Persons: Serhii, Oleh Kiper, Iryna, Pavel Polityuk, Frances Kerry Organizations: REUTERS, Thomson Locations: Odesa, Mykolaiv, Russia, Ukraine, Black, Ukraine's

☆ Romania bids to clear Danube logjam after Ukraine attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Romanian authorities managing the waterway still expect a "peak" in traffic in August, despite the attack, an official said. Before Russia pulled out of the safe passage corridor, the Danube ports accounted for around a quarter of Ukraine's grain exports. Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said Russia's attacks on Ukraine's civilian infrastructure on the Danube amounted to war crimes. "We will clear around 30 ships in two days, at least 12 today, if not 14, and the rest tomorrow." Industry sources have told Reuters war risk cover for Ukraine's ports that were part of the previous grain deal had already been suspended.

Persons: Klaus Iohannis, Florin Uzumtoma, Uzumtoma, Izmail, Denys Shmyhal, Shmyhal, Mykola Solsky, Luiza Ilie, Jonathan Saul, Pavel Polityuk, Peter Graff, Conor Humphries Organizations: United, Reuters, underwriters, Industry, Insurance, NATO, Thomson Locations: Romania, Ukraine, BUCHAREST, KYIV, Izmail, Ukrainian, Russia, United Nations, Turkey, Romanian, Constanta, Musura, Bucharest, London, Kyiv

☆ Russia strikes Ukraine's Danube port, sending global grain prices higher
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Pavel Polityuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Ukraine's defence ministry said a grain silo was damaged in the Danube port of Izmail in the Odesa region: "Ukrainian grain has the potential to feed millions of people worldwide," the ministry wrote on messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter. Russian terrorists have once again attacked ports, grain, global food security." "The enemy... is trying to destroy Ukrainian grain, attacking industrial and port infrastructure. Ukrainian officials have said Moscow has hit 26 port facilities, five civilian vessels and 180,000 tonnes of grain in nine days of strikes since quitting the grain deal. Ukraine's Air Force reported that Russia also launched a drone attack on Kyiv and the surrounding region overnight.

Persons: Oleh Kiper, Kiper, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Izmail, Ukraine's, Serhiy Bratchuk, Pavel Polityuk, Jacqueline Wong, Tom Hogue, Simon Cameron, Moore, Peter Graff Organizations: REUTERS, Ukrainian Volunteer Army, United Nations, Ukraine's Air Force, Air, Thomson Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Odesa, REUTERS KYIV, Russia, Romania, Moscow, reimpose, Izmail, NATO, Ukraine's, Chicago, Constanta, Turkey, Kyiv

☆ Russia strikes Ukraine's Danube port, driving up global grain prices
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Pavel Polityuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Kubrakov, writing on Facebook, said the Danube ports' infrastructure had been "devastated". "Ukrainian grain is indispensable for the world and cannot be replaced by any other country in the coming years," he wrote. "The port of Izmail suffered the most damage, including the terminal and infrastructure of the Danube Shipping Company." Russian state news agency RIA said the port and grain infrastructure hit was housing foreign mercenaries and military hardware. Seaport authority head Yuriy Lytvyn said on Facebook that repair work had already begun and the port infrastructure continued to operate.

Persons: Oleksandr Kubrakov, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, RIA, Oleh Kiper, Yuriy Lytvyn, Nina, PUTIN, Vladimir Putin, Tayyip Erdogan, West, Putin, Erdogan, Ukraine Bridget Brink, Russia's, Farhan Haq, Pavel Polityuk, Peter Graff, Hugh Lawson, Daniel Wallis, Michelle Nichols, Simon Cameron, Moore, Philippa Fletcher, Giles Elgood, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: NATO, Romania Kyiv, Ukraine's, Russia reimposed, Facebook, Danube Shipping Company, Reuters, REUTERS, United Nations, Kremlin, International, Court, TASS, U.S, Rih, Thomson Locations: Romania, Russia, Ukraine, Izmail, Africa, China, Israel, Moscow, NATO, Russian, Odesa, Turkey, Soviet, Tehran, Kerch, Crimea, Ports, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Kherson, Constanta

☆ Habitat at risk as Ukrainians crowd river seeking respite from war
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( Viktoria Lakezina | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] People rest on a narrow beach of the Tylihul river that widens into a broad estuary, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Mykolaiv region, Ukraine July 29, 2023. REUTERS/Viktoria LakezinaTYLIHUL ESTUARY, Ukraine, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Kite surfers bounce along the gentle waves. On one hand, we understand that there is no access to the sea and people still want to relax somewhere. But as long as the war goes on and there are few other places to rest, families say they will keep coming. So this is the only place where we can relax after two years of war against Russia," said resident Viacheslav Natalenko.

Persons: Viktoria, Petro Kalinchuk, Inna Tymchenko, Kalinchuk, Viacheslav, Peter Graff, Alex Richardson Organizations: REUTERS, Visitors, National Institute of Ecology, Russia, Viacheslav Natalenko, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Mykolaiv region, TYLIHUL, Mykolaiv, Dnipro

☆ Zelenskiy wants NATO-Ukraine Council to meet over Black Sea grain issue
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 22 (Reuters) - Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday he had asked the head of NATO to convene a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council to discuss security in the Black Sea, particularly the operation of a corridor for Ukrainian grain exports. Russia said ships heading to Ukraine's Black Sea ports could be considered military targets. "In our cooperation, we have moved to a new, more advanced level, the NATO-Ukraine Council, and this mechanism can have an impact," Zelenskiy said. We can overcome the security crisis in the Black Sea." The United Nations' aid chief told the U.N. Security Council on Friday that a spike in grain prices since Russia quit the deal "potentially threatens hunger and worse for millions of people."

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Zelenskiy, Jens Stoltenberg, Jens, Ron Popeski, Nick Starkov, Paul Simao Organizations: NATO, Ukraine Council, United Nations, . Security, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Russia

☆ Russian navy rehearses firing rockets at ships in Black Sea after warning to Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/3] A still image from a video, released by Russia's Defence Ministry, shows what it said to be the guided missile ship Ivanovets during drills in the Black Sea, in this image taken from video released July 21, 2023. Russian Defence Ministry/Handout via REUTERSMOSCOW, July 21 (Reuters) - Russia's Defence Ministry said on Friday that its Black Sea Fleet had practised firing rockets at surface targets in a live fire exercise, two days after it warned that ships heading to Ukraine's Black Sea ports could be considered military targets. Russia issued its warning earlier this week after it quit the Black Sea grain deal on Monday, revoking security guarantees for ships carrying Ukrainian grain. Kyiv subsequently said it wanted to set up a temporary shipping route to try and continue its grain exports, prompting Russia to warn that any ships travelling to Ukraine's Black Sea ports would be seen as possibly carrying military cargoes. "In accordance with the combat training plan of the Black Sea Fleet forces, the crew of the Ivanovets missile boat carried out live firing of anti-ship cruise missiles at a target vessel..." the Defence Ministry said in a statement.

Persons: Caleb Davis, Andrew Osborn Organizations: Russia's Defence Ministry, Russian Defence Ministry, REUTERS, Russia's Defence, Black, Fleet, Defence Ministry, Reuters, Thomson Locations: REUTERS MOSCOW, Russia, Kyiv

☆ Russia warns ships in Black Sea, Ukraine to create temporary grains export route
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Ukraine said on Wednesday it was establishing a temporary shipping route via Romania, one of the neighbouring Black Sea countries. Russia's Defence Ministry said flag states of ships travelling to Ukrainian ports would be considered parties to the conflict on the Ukrainian side from midnight Moscow time (2100 GMT on Wednesday). U.S. officials have information indicating Russia laid additional sea mines in the approaches to Ukrainian ports, said White House National Security Council spokesperson Adam Hodge. "We believe that this is a coordinated effort to justify any attacks against civilian ships in the Black Sea and lay blame on Ukraine for these attacks," he said. Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Western countries of "perverting" the U.N.-backed deal formally called the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

Persons: West, Vasyl Shkurakov, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Adam Hodge, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Valery Shershen, Grant McCool, Stephen Coates Organizations: Ukrainian Coast Guard, Operational Command, Putin, International Shipping Organization, United, Sunday, Russia's Defence Ministry, White, National Security, Monetary Fund, Russian, Reuters, Pentagon, Ukraine, European Union, Thomson Locations: Izmail, Odesa, Ukraine, Moscow, Russia, Romania, United Nations, Turkey, Ukrainian, Russian, Africa, Asia, China, Azov, Crimea, Washington, Brussels, European

☆ Russia hits Ukraine targets in 'mass retaliatory strike' after bridge attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Andrew Osborn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] A view shows a building damaged during a Russian missile and drone strikes, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine July 18, 2023. The ministry said it had struck Odesa, where the Ukrainian navy has its headquarters, and Mykolaiv, near Ukraine's Black Sea coast. It said it had struck a ship repair plant near Odesa where such boats - thought to be naval drones of the kind Russia believes were used to attack the Crimean bridge - were being built. Ukrainian media said Ukrainian security services had used naval drones to attack the bridge, which had only recently returned to full operation after suffering severe damage in a similar attack last October. Peskov confirmed that the overnight strikes had been revenge for the bridge attack.

Persons: Dmitry Peskov, Peskov, Alexander Kots, Kots, Russia's, Andrew Osborn, Conor Humphries, Mike Harrison Organizations: Press Service, Operational Command, Ukrainian Armed Forces, Kremlin, Russia's Defence, Ukrainian, Russian Federation, Russian, Komsomolskaya Pravda, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Odesa, Russia, MOSCOW, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Ukraine's, Ukrainian, Moscow, Crimea, Crimean, Sevastopol

☆ Black Sea grain deal to expire Monday if Russia quits
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Russia's February 2022 invasion and blockade of Ukraine's Black Sea ports sent global grain prices soaring. The United Nations has argued that the arrangement has benefited those states by helping lower food prices more than 20% globally. Russia has agreed three times in the past year to extend the Black Sea deal, but also briefly suspended its participation at the end of October in response to a drone attack on its fleet in Crimea. To convince Russia to agree to the Black Sea deal, a three-year deal was also struck in July 2022 under which U.N. officials agreed to help Russia get its food and fertilizer exports to foreign markets. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made a final effort on Tuesday to convince Russian President Vladimir Putin to extend the Black Sea grain deal for several months in exchange for the EU connecting a subsidiary of Rosselkhozbank to SWIFT for grain and fertilizer transactions, sources said.

Persons: Russia's, Sergei Lavrov, James, Antonio Guterres, Vladimir Putin, Guterres, Putin, Michelle Nichols, Will Dunham Organizations: UNITED NATIONS, United, United Nations, . Security, British, Food, Russian Agricultural Bank, SWIFT, European Union, EU, JPMorgan Chase &, reassurances, U.S ., The United Nations, African Export, Import Bank, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Russia, United Nations, Turkey, Ukraine's, Britain, Afghanistan, Sudan, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Yemen, Asia, Western Europe, Africa, Eastern Europe, Crimea, Moscow, SWIFT, Rosselkhozbank

Erdogan's ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin have weighed on Turkey's relations with its traditional Western allies for years, along with other factors including concern over his increasingly autocratic rule. "Turkey doesn't want the Turkish-Russian relationship to be badly hurt, but this will inevitably have an impact on relations. Ankara has been important to Moscow as Erdogan has refused to join Western sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine invasion. 'ROSE-TINTED SPECTACLES'The Kremlin said it intended to develop relations with Turkey "despite all the disagreements". In 2009, Cyprus blocked six out of the 35 chapters Turkey must conclude as part of its EU accession negotiations.

Persons: Erdogan, Tayyip Erdogan, Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Dalay, Washington, Biden, Putin, Dmitry Peskov, Peskov, Evren Balta, Orhan Coskun, Tom Perry, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: NATO Russian, NATO, Western, Analysts, Ukraine, Chatham, VISA, Turkish, Reuters, Kremlin, Russia, European Union, EU, Union, Ozyegin University, Thomson Locations: Sweden, Turkey, Washington, ANKARA, ISTANBUL, U.S, Russia, Ukraine, Ankara, Moscow, Turkish, NATO, Republic of Turkey, Europe, Cyprus

☆ Exclusive: Romania mulling measures to protect farmers at Constanta port, source says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A view of the cereal terminal with grain silo in the Black Sea port of Constanta, Romania, May 11, 2022. The harvest season begins around July, when Ukraine's Black Sea grain corridor could collapse, and it typically runs until October. At its peak, Constanta port handled roughly 25 million tones of grain exports a year. Agritel estimates its wheat harvest at 8.76 million tonnes, while grain trade association Coceral sees it at 9.57 million tonnes and Romanian consultancy AGRIColumn at 10.5 million tonnes. By comparison, Romanian consultancy AGRIColumn expects Romania will have up to 21 million tonnes of grains and oilseeds available to export in the 2023/2024 season.

Persons: Olimpiu Gheorghiu, Coceral, AGRIColumn, Luiza Ilie, Louise Heavens Organizations: REUTERS, Union, United, Reuters, European Union, EU, Thomson Locations: Black, Constanta, Romania, BUCHAREST, Ukraine, United Nations, Turkey, Brussels, Kyiv, Romanian

☆ Russian missile attacks on Odesa and Donetsk region kill at least six, Ukraine says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] Emergency services personnel work to control a fire at a business centre and the warehouse of a retail chain, caused by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine in this image released June 14, 2023. State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Handout via REUTERSKYIV, June 14 (Reuters) - Russian missiles struck civilian buildings in Ukraine's Black Sea port of Odesa and eastern Donetsk region overnight, killing at least six people, Ukraine's military and local officials said early on Wednesday. Russia launched four cruise missiles on the city of Odesa, the South command of Ukraine's Armed Forces said. The three people killed were working at a retail chain's warehouse when a missile hit, setting it ablaze, the military added. In a separate missile strike, Russian forces killed three civilians in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, the governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Facebook.

Persons: Serhiy Bratchuk, Pavlo Kyrylenko, Lidia Kelly, Pavel Polityuk, Simon Cameron, Moore Organizations: Emergency Service of, REUTERS, Russia, Ukraine's Armed Forces, Facebook, Ukrainian Air Forces, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Odesa, Emergency Service of Ukraine, Handout, REUTERS KYIV, Ukraine's Black, Donetsk, Ukraine's, Kramatorsk, Kostiantynivka, Russia, Melbourne, Kyiv

"(This) creates a very good defending position for Russians who expect Ukrainian offensive activity,” Matysiak said. Russia has denied responsibility and accused Ukraine of sabotaging the dam to deflect from what Moscow said were Ukrainian military failures. "For Russians the reason to do it would have been to stop the Ukrainian counteroffensive, obviously. For Ukraine, the breach might have provided a way of distracting the Russians while Kyiv launches its counteroffensive, she added. Patricia Lewis, Research Director for International Security at the Chatham House think tank, said the situation helps Russia even if the Ukrainian counteroffensive later makes inroads.

Persons: Ruslan Strilets, Ben Barry, Maciej Matysiak, ” Matysiak, Strilets, Mohammad Heidarzadeh, Heidarzadeh, Dmytro Kuleba, Marina Miron, Patricia Lewis, they're, Aiden Nulty, Ben Tavener, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: Kyiv, International Institute for Strategic Studies, Stratpoints Foundation, University of Bath, Civil, Engineering, University of Warwick, Reserve, Nova Kakhovka, King's College, International Security, Chatham House, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Dnipro, Kyiv, Nova, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Russia, Kherson, Crimea, Britain, London

☆ Ukraine wants to work with Western countries to create another 'sea of NATO' on the border with Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-24 | by ( Constantine Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Doing so would help turn the Black Sea into another "sea of NATO," the foreign minister said. "It's time to turn the Black Sea into what the Baltic Sea has become, a sea of NATO," Dmytro Kuleba said. "The Black Sea can never be a NATO sea," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in response to Kuleba's comments. The Black Sea region is "a strategically important area for Euro-Atlantic security," Geoană said in April. At the conference in April, Romania's foreign minister said a strong NATO presence in the Black Sea was a "must."

☆ UN concerned by lack of grain ships going to one Ukrainian port
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The Black Sea grain deal - brokered by the U.N. and Turkey last July - allows for the safe export of ammonia and Russia has been pushing for the pipeline to be restarted. Russia agreed last week for the Black Sea pact to be extended for two months. The Black Sea grain deal ground to a halt last week as Russia decided whether to continue it. He noted that no fertilizers, including ammonia, had yet been exported under the Black Sea agreement. The Kremlin said on Monday that the EU's reluctance to reconnect Russia's state agricultural bank to SWIFT showed the bloc's "non-constructive stance" on the Black Sea grain deal.

☆ Hungary to block EU military aid fund for Ukraine unless Kyiv takes OTP bank off blacklist
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Boldizsar Gyori | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BUDAPEST, May 17 (Reuters) - Hungary will block the next tranche of European Union military support for Ukraine and any new sanctions package against Russia unless Kyiv removes Hungarian bank OTP (OTPB.BU) from its list of war sponsors, its foreign minister said on Wednesday. "We can't give it a green light as long as OTP remains blacklisted," said Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto. Hungary this week held up a proposal to allocate a further 500 million euros ($550.40 million) from an EU-run fund, the European Peace Facility, to military aid for Ukraine. "We'll talk to the Ukrainians and we'll talk to the (EU) member states, including Hungary," a senior EU official said on condition of anonymity. The EU has provided a total of about 3.6 billion euros ($4 billion) for military support for Ukraine so far under the European Peace Facility.

☆ Explainer: Why the EU is restricting grain imports from Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Poland, meanwhile, received 2.08 million tonnes of corn, 579,315 tonnes of wheat and 44,114 tonnes of barley in 2022. They have, however, faced increased competition in local markets from Ukrainian grain and oilseeds. Ukrainian grain was shipped to 95 countries that season with major buyers including China, Egypt, Pakistan, Spain and Libya. This is partly because Russian wheat exports have actually risen following a record harvest last summer. A decline in Ukraine's corn exports has also been offset by a jump in shipments from Brazil.

Farmers in Poland and other eastern European countries who held out for higher prices have been hit by a perfect storm. A jump in exports from Brazil and Russia helped to drive global grain prices lower while the EU opened its borders to tariff-free Ukrainian grain imports in a show of solidarity after Russia blocked the country's Black Sea ports. After opening its borders to Ukrainian grain, Poland imported 2.08 million tonnes of maize and 579,315 tonnes of wheat last year, up from just 6,269 tonnes of maize and 3,033 tonnes of wheat in 2021. If the grain corridor due to expire this month were to collapse, Ukrainian farmers would have little option but to send all their grain exports through eastern Europe. European wheat prices hit post-harvest highs in October 2022 of more than 350 euros a tonne but since then prices have dropped to pre-invasion levels of about 235 euros.

☆ Hungary to allow transit of Ukrainian grain, protect farmers, minister says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BUDAPEST, April 20 (Reuters) - Hungary will continue to allow transit of Ukrainian grain, ensuring the departure of such shipments "in a controlled manner," its agriculture minister, Istvan Nagy, told state news agency MTI after talks in Brussels. This followed Poland and Hungary last weekend banning some imports from Ukraine. "It was worthwhile for Hungary to take firm action and protect the interests of Hungarian farmers," Nagy said, referring to the ban, adding the measures forced Brussels to take action. The countries became transit routes for Ukrainian grain that could not be exported through Ukraine's Black Sea ports because of Russia's invasion in February 2022. Bottlenecks then trapped millions of tons of grains in countries bordering Ukraine, forcing local farmers to compete with an influx of cheap Ukrainian imports which they said distorted prices and demand.

☆ UN chief raises concerns with Russia about Ukraine grain deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The United Nations has said no ships were inspected on Tuesday under the deal - agreed in July last year - "as the parties needed more time to reach an agreement on operational priorities." The deal saw a resumption of Ukraine's Black Sea grain exports, which had been halted by Russia's Feb. 24, 2022, invasion. All ships are inspected by officials from Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations in waters near Turkey on the way in and out of Ukraine. The United Nations said there are dozens of ships waiting to be inspected before they travel to Ukraine. Last month, Russia agreed to renew the grain export deal for at least 60 days, half the intended period, and Moscow has said it would only consider a further extension if several demands in relation to its own exports were met.

Summary Russia to West: remove obstacles to agricultural exportsLavrov: West should take UN proposals seriouslyLavrov: Ukraine may have to use land/rivers for exportsLavrov: Russia may work around Black Sea grain dealMOSCOW, April 7 (Reuters) - Russia warned the West on Friday that unless obstacles to its exports of grain and fertilisers were removed, then Ukraine would have to export grain over land and Moscow would work outside the UN-brokered landmark grain export deal. The Black Sea grain deal is an attempt by the United Nations to ease a food crisis that predated the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but was made worse by the most deadly war in Europe since World War Two. The deal, first signed by Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the UN in July last year and twice extended, allows for the export of food and fertiliser, including ammonia from Ukraine's Black Sea ports of Odesa, Chornomorsk, Yuzhny/Pivdennyi. If the West continued to refuse to remove the obstacles to Russian exports, Moscow would work around the grain deal, Lavrov said beside his Turkish counterpart at a news conference in Ankara. Since its signing, the 120-day grain deal has been extended twice, once in November and a second time in March, though Russia said the March extension was only for 60 days.

☆ Russia says Black Sea grain deal will be extended automatically if no objections
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 14 (Reuters) - A deal allowing the safe export of grain from Ukraine's Black Sea ports will be extended automatically after it expires on March 18 if there are no objections from the involved parties, Russia's TASS state news agency reported on Tuesday. Citing an unnamed source familiar with the details of the negotiations around the agreement, TASS reported that so far none of the involved sides had indicated a withdrawal. "If the parties have no objections, the deal will continue after March 18," TASS quoted the source as saying. The prices of corn and wheat have been under pressure on hopes of a deal renewal . Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Jamie FreedOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/8] A U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drone sits in a hanger at Amari Air Base, Estonia, July 1, 2020. On the diplomatic and economic fronts, talks continued to extend a deal to allow grain shipments from Ukraine's Black Sea ports that is due to expire this week, the United Nations and Turkey said. DRONE CRASHTwo Russian Su-27 jets carried out what the U.S. military described as a reckless intercept of the American spy drone while flying in international air space. The accounts of the incident in the Black Sea, which is bordered by Russia and Ukraine among other countries, could not be independently verified. RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR SUMMONEDRussia's Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov was summoned by the U.S. State Department to discuss what happened over the Black Sea, said spokesperson Ned Price.

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