RUSSIA WILL RETURN TO GRAIN DEAL IF EXPECTATIONS ARE MET, PUTIN SAYS

Wed 02 August 2023:

Putin has told Turkey’s Erdogan that Moscow is ready to return to the Black Sea grain deal as soon as the West meets its obligations to Russia’s grain exports, the Kremlin said.

In a phone call with Erdogan, Putin also listed its reasons for exiting the deal last month.

According to a statement by the Turkish presidency, the two leaders also agreed that Putin would visit Turkey.

A senior Turkish official added that discussions between Ankara and Moscow are ongoing for a visit in late August.

The statement from the presidents office added, “President Erdogan expressed the importance of refraining from steps that could escalate tensions during the Russia-Ukraine war, emphasising the significance of the Black Sea initiative, which he described as a bridge of peace”.

Russia hits port, grain storage in Ukraine’s Odesa region

Russian drones have hit port and grain storage facilities in the south of Ukraine’s coastal Odesa region in the early morning hours, setting some of them on fire, regional governor Oleh Kiper has said on the Telegram messaging app.

“As a result of the attack, fires broke out at the facilities of the port and industrial infrastructure of the region, and an elevator was damaged,” Kiper wrote, adding that emergency services were on site and there were no reports of casualties.

Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukrainian agricultural and port infrastructure after refusing to extend the Black Sea grain deal that had allowed for the exports of Ukrainian grain.

Ukrainian media reported the drones arrived from the Black Sea and then moved west along the Danube river towards Izmail, a key port from which Ukrainian grain is taken by barge to the Romanian Black Sea port of Constanta for shipment onwards.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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