Russia-Ukraine Black Sea grain deal: All you need to know
Al JazeeraRussia has declined to extend the Black Sea grain deal, stalling the export of Ukrainian grain to the rest of the world. The Black Sea Grain Initiative – a deal brokered between Russia and Ukraine by the United Nations and Turkey – has allowed 32.9 million metric tonnes of food to be exported from war-torn Ukraine since August. The accord – signed by Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Ukraine’s Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov in July last year at Istanbul’s lavish Dolmabahce Palace – created a safe corridor for Ukraine’s grain exports from three Ukrainian ports – Odesa, Yuzhny and Chornomorsk. The vessels then crossed the Black Sea towards Turkey’s Bosphorus Strait while being closely monitored by a joint coordination centre in Istanbul, containing representatives from the UN, Ukraine, Russia and Turkey.