Russia denies link between new grain shipment and potential new deal
Russia's Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that the passage of a second ship from Ukraine through a temporary corridor on the Black Sea has no bearing on the prospects for a new deal on grain exports involving Russia, as reported by Digi24.
Peskov said in a press conference that the prospects for reviving the grain deal would depend on the West's fulfilment of promises made to Moscow regarding Russian grain and fertiliser exports.
On Sunday, Ukraine announced that a ship carrying steel products to Africa had left the Ukrainian port of Odessa through a temporary maritime corridor in the Black Sea, the second vessel to do so after Russia withdrew from the UN-brokered agreement in July that allowed for safe grain exports. Russia has since threatened to target all ships as potential military targets.
The international community is trying to find a way to ensure routes for transporting grain to the rest of the world in time for the harvest this fall, with Ukraine and Russia being the world's leading exporters.
