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Russia and Ukraine agreed Wednesday to a two-month extension until July 18 of their pact allowing grain shipments from Ukrainian ports through the Russian-controlled Black Sea to global markets to ease world food shortages.
The extension had been in question until an 11th hour agreement was brokered in Istanbul by Turkey and the United Nations. Turkey and the U.N. both have played key roles in earlier agreements that have allowed more than 30 million tons of corn, wheat and other produce to be shipped since last year despite nearly 15 months of fighting after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hailed the agreement, saying, "The importance of the Black Sea Initiative - and the parallel Memorandum of Understanding between the U.N. and the Russian Federation - is clear. These agreements matter for global food security. Ukrainian and Russian products feed the world."
He said that "vital food supplies are reaching some of the world's most vulnerable people and places - including 30,000 tons of wheat that just left Ukraine aboard a [World Food Program]-chartered ship to feed hungry people in Sudan."
He said the shipments "matter because we are still in the throes of a record-breaking cost-of-living crisis," while acknowledging that global food "markets have stabilized, volatility has been reduced and we have seen global food prices fall by 20%."
Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said he was grateful to the U.N. and Turkey "for efforts in strengthening food security. Main challenge now is to make [the grain shipments] efficient by cancellation [of] artificial barriers," which he did not spell out.
Several times over the past year, Russia has threatened to withdraw from the grain shipment pact, or has briefly done so, arguing that provisions allowing its own agricultural products and fertilizers to be shipped to world markets are not being fulfilled.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has complained that Russia has stalled the deal by preventing required inspections of shipments and refusing to approve the use of more vessels.
Russian confirmed the two-month extension of the pact, but a Russia Foreign Ministry spokeswoman suggested that Russia's complaints about the deal had still not been addressed. "The distortions in the implementation of the deal should be corrected as quickly as possible," she said.
Kyiv air defense
Ukraine's military on Wednesday dismissed concerns about Russia's claims that a Russian hypersonic missile had destroyed a U.S.-supplied Patriot missile battery during a series of airstrikes on Kyiv.
Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat told Ukrainian television and Agence France-Presse "do not worry" about the fate of the Patriot battery.
"The Patriot is in service," Ihnat said, according to AFP.
Reuters and CNN cited U.S. officials saying the battery was likely damaged during the Russian attack on Tuesday.
Ukrainian officials said air defense systems shot down all 18 missiles Russia fired on Kyiv.
Ukraine's Western allies have supplied sophisticated air defense systems, including the U.S.-made Patriot missiles, and they have helped spare Kyiv from the kind of widespread destruction seen elsewhere in the country.
Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters