Talks underway to extend Black Sea grain deal
A team inspects the produce in the ship carrying wheat from Ukraine to Afghanistan after inspection in the open sea around Zeytinburnu district of Istanbul, Turkiye on January 24, 2023.
TUR Ministry of National Defence | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Negotiations began on Monday between U.N. officials and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin on a possible extension to a deal allowing the safe export of grain from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, the Russian diplomatic mission in Geneva said.
The Black Sea grain initiative, brokered between Russia and Ukraine by the United Nations and Turkey last July, aimed to prevent a global food crisis by allowing Ukrainian grain blockaded by Russia’s invasion to be safely exported from three Ukrainian ports.
The deal, which was extended for 120 days in November, is up for renewal on March 18.
Russian officials say that although the country’s agricultural exports have not been explicitly targeted by the West, sanctions on its payments, logistics and insurance industries have created a barrier for it being able to export its own grains and fertilizers.
— Reuters
Ukraine’s first lady calls for more Western weapons
Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska attends the Forbes 30/50 Summit in Abu Dhabi on March 8 2023 in celebration of International Womens Day.
Karim Sahib | Afp | Getty Images
Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska called for more Western weapons as her country continues to fight off a colossal Russian invasion.
“Somebody perhaps thinks that it is out of place for a president’s wife to ask for weapons, but I will ask for it, because it’s our salvation,” Zelenska told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” in an exclusive interview.
Zelenska added that even the children of her country know how crucial Western arms have been on the battlefield.
“Children know what HIMARs is, children know what the tank is,” she said, adding that kids shouldn’t know that much about military weaponry. “But this…
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