Ukraine and Russia sign deal to reopen grain export ports

A farmer collects harvest in a field around a crater left by a Russian rocket near the Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine on July 4. Pic/AP

Russia and Ukraine signed a deal on Friday to reopen grains exports from Ukrainian Black Sea ports in an agreement that U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan said would help ease a global food crisis.

Government ministers from Russia and Ukraine signed the deal separately, avoiding sitting at the same table and avoiding shaking hands at the event in Istanbul."Today, there is a beacon on the Black Sea. A beacon of hope (and) possibility... and relief in a world that needs it more than ever," Guterres said, calling on Russia and Ukraine to fully implement the accord.

The deal will enable Ukraine to export 22 million tons of grain and other agricultural products stuck in Black Sea ports due to the war. Russian state news agency TASS, citing an unnamed source, said that three Ukrainian ports including the biggest export hub Odesa would be reopened. Some 20 million tonnes of grain are stuck in silos at Odesa, and dozens of ships have been stranded.

The deal makes provisions for the safe passage of ships. A control centre will be established in Istanbul, staffed by U.N., Turkish, Russian and Ukrainian officials, to run and coordinate the process.

School hit by Russian strike

Ukrainian emergency workers recovered three bodies from a school hit by a Russian strike in the east of the country, officials said Friday, as attacks continued in several parts of the nation.

Separatists block Google

Russian-backed separatists in a breakaway region of eastern Ukraine have blocked access to the search engine Google, their leader said on Friday, citing what he calls "disinformation". In a message posted on his Telegram channel, Denis Pushilin, head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), accused Google of promoting "violence against all Russians" and said that its "handlers from the U.S. government" were to blame. "If Google stops pursuing its criminal policy and returns to the mainstream of law, morality and common sense, there will be no obstacles to its work," he said.

20 mn
Tonnes of grain stuck in silos at Odesa

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