Ukraine: Kyiv and Moscow to sign grain deal, separatists block Google
Ukrainian soldiers fire a shell at a front line in the Kharkiv region. /Gleb Garanich/Reuters
Ukrainian soldiers fire a shell at a front line in the Kharkiv region. /Gleb Garanich/Reuters
MAIN TITLES
• Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres are expected to sign an agreement on Friday to reopen Ukraine’s Black Sea ports to grain exports, Ankara said, raising hopes that an international food crisis aggravated by the conflict in Ukraine could be alleviated. LEARN MORE BELOW
• EU governments are resisting a proposal from Brussels that member states would cut their gas consumption by 15% to prepare for possible supply cuts from Russia, questioning the bloc’s ability to implement the contingency plan.
• Gas flows from Russia to Germany resumed at around 40% capacitythe same level as before the planned closure of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline. However, falling levels continue to put pressure on Berlin’s goals of replenishing stocks for the winter and transferring gas to d other countries, including France, Austria and the Czech Republic.
• Russian forces appear to be on the verge of taking Ukraine’s second largest power plant at Vuhlehirska in Donetsk with the aim of seizing critical infrastructure and the cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, Britain said.
• A tanker carrying liquid fertilizer from Russia is about to arrive in the United States. Washington has yet to blacklist Russian agricultural products, including fertilizers, but many Western banks and traders have shunned Russian supplies for fear of violating sanctions.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed the oil market during a telephone conversation, according to the Kremlin. The call comes less than a week after Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader met with visiting US President Joe Biden.
• The aim of the breakaway Moldovan region of Transnistria to become part of Russia has not been affected by the conflict in neighboring Ukraine, the region’s foreign minister told the RIA Novosti news agency.
• Three people were killed and 23 others injured in a Russian missile strike in Kharkiv, according to Ukrainian prosecutors.
• The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that its forces had destroyed four High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) supplied by the United States. between July 5 and July 20. The United States has already committed to sending four more systems to Ukraine after Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered his generals to prioritize the destruction of missiles and long-range artillery. Ukraine because of the success of weapons supplied by the West. to hit Russian supply lines.
• Pro-Russian officials in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk People’s Republic say they’ve blocked Googleaccusing the American giant of promoting “violence against Russians”, while the neighboring People’s Republic of Lugansk blocked Google 24 hours earlier.
Workers store grain at a terminal during the barley harvest in the Odessa region amid conflict in Ukraine. /Igor Tkachenko/Reuters
Workers store grain at a terminal during the barley harvest in the Odessa region amid conflict in Ukraine. /Igor Tkachenko/Reuters
IN DETAIL
Kyiv and Moscow to sign deal to unblock grain exports
Ukraine and Russia are due to sign an agreement on Friday to help ease a global food crisis caused by the blockage of grain exports from the Black Sea.
It is the first major agreement between Moscow and Kyiv since Russia launched its military campaign against its neighbor in February, a conflict that has dramatically exacerbated a global food crisis, leaving some of the world’s poorest countries facing the famine.
Up to 25 million tonnes of wheat and other grains have been blocked in Ukrainian ports by Russian warships and landmines laid by Kyiv to ward off an amphibious assault.
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UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres was due to arrive in Turkey on Friday for the signing ceremony at Istanbul’s Dolmabahce Palace on the Bosphorus Strait.
“The grain export agreement, of crucial importance for global food security, will be signed in Istanbul under the auspices of President Erdogan and UN Secretary General Guterres, as well as Ukrainian delegations and Russian,” Turkish leader Ibrahim Kalin’s spokesman tweeted.
Net wheat importing countries, of which more than 50% of their imports come from Russia and Ukraine. /Laurence Saubadu, Jonathan Walter, Sylvie Husson/AFP
Net wheat importing countries, of which more than 50% of their imports come from Russia and Ukraine. /Laurence Saubadu, Jonathan Walter, Sylvie Husson/AFP
The agreement will include a joint command and control center set up in Istanbul to oversee the smooth running of operations and resolve disputes.
Its participants will include representatives from Moscow and Kyiv, as well as Türkiye and UN officials, with the center expected to be ready in a few weeks, meaning the grain may not start flowing at full speed again by late August.
Ship inspections continue to be one of the most complex and politically charged parts of the agreement.
Ukraine does not want Russia to board its ships to check for possible delivery of weapons when the ships return to port, but a compromise has been reached to oversee inspections at Turkish ports on the way back to Ukraine.
However, it is still unclear exactly who will be allowed to board Ukrainian ships.
UN officials say the deal ensures that Ukrainians pilot their own ships along safe routes that avoid known minefields, with both sides pledging not to attack ships entering or to the output.
The deal was in danger of unraveling when Putin announced this week that he also expected grain from his own country to be covered by the deal.
The UN and Russia are to sign a separate memorandum of understanding in Istanbul ensuring that grain and fertilizers will not be directly or indirectly affected by the sanctions.
Source(s): Reuters, AFP