Liberia-flagged bulker K Sukret, carrying grain under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, waits for inspection in the southern anchorage of Istanbul on May 17, 2023. (Photo: Reuters/Mehmet Emin Caliskan)

Putin to meet Erdogan amid push to revive grain deal

Turkey, UN seek to revive grain deal; Russia discussing separate plan

Moscow | Reuters — Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold talks with Turkey’s Tayyip Erdogan on Monday in the Black Sea resort of Sochi as Ankara and the United Nations seek to revive a Ukraine grain export deal that helped ease a global food crisis. Russia quit the deal in July — a year after […] Read more

Vessels are seen as they await inspection under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, brokered by the UN and Turkey, in the southern anchorage of the Bosphorus at Istanbul on Dec. 11, 2022. (File photo: Reuters/Yoruk Isik)

Russia says will have talks with Turkey about alternative to Black Sea deal

Plan calls for Qatar's support to move Russian grain

Reuters — Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan will discuss a proposal by Moscow for an alternative to the Black Sea grain deal when they meet this week, Lavrov’s ministry said Wednesday. Under the plan, Russia would send a million tons of grain to Turkey at a discounted price, with financial […] Read more


File photo of a small boat flying the Lebanese flag at a marina in Tripoli as a cargo vessel sails in the distance. (Joel Carillet/iStock/Getty Images)

Ukraine asks Lebanon to bar Syrian ship carrying ‘stolen’ corn

Corn taken from multiple storage units, Ukraine alleges

Beirut | Reuters — Ukrainian officials on Thursday asked Lebanon to bar a Syrian state-owned cargo ship carrying allegedly stolen Ukrainian grain from docking in Lebanon’s Tripoli port, according to the Ukrainian embassy and a diplomatic note seen by Reuters. The Ukrainian mission said in comments to Reuters that the Finikia was transporting 6,000 metric […] Read more

Commercial vessels  –including vessels which are part of the Black Sea grain deal — wait to pass the Bosphorus strait off the shores of Yenikapi during a misty morning in Istanbul, Turkey on Oct. 31, 2022. (Photo: Reuters/Umit Bektas)

U.S. says working to identify alternative paths for Ukraine grain

Danube grain facilities attacked overnight

Washington | Reuters — The United States on Wednesday condemned Russia’s continued attacks on Ukraine’s grain infrastructure and said it was working with partners to identify alternative options to ensure Ukrainian grain exports. “The United States … calls for Russia to immediately return to the Black Sea Grain Initiative,” State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel […] Read more


(File photo by Lorraine Stevenson)

Oilseed crush down, grain deliveries rise in June: StatCan

Canadian grain deliveries reached a three-month high in June

 Marketsfarm – Statistics Canada (StatCan) released its June oilseed crush and grain delivery statistics, showing a small decline for the former, but a large gain for the latter from the month before.  Oilseed processors in Canada crushed 772,345 tonnes of canola last month, as well as 139,164 tonnes of soybeans for the month of June […] Read more

File photo of Black Sea port facilities at Odesa, Ukraine. (Leskas/iStock/Getty Images)

Russian diplomat accuses Ukraine of using Black Sea grain corridor for attacks

Russia says it's negotiating exports of food to countries most in need

Moscow | Reuters – Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin on Friday accused Ukraine of using a grain export corridor in the Black Sea to launch “terrorist attacks” against Russian interests, including one this week on the Crimean Bridge. Vershinin was addressing a briefing about Russia’s decision on Monday to quit the year-old Black Sea […] Read more


A seaport grain terminal damaged during Russian missile and drone strikes in Odesa region, Ukraine on July 19, 2023. (Photo: Ukrainian Infrastructure Ministry via Facebook/Handout via Reuters)

Russia delivers Black Sea warning as Ukraine decries ‘hellish’ grain port attacks

Russian missiles strike Odesa for second night in a row

Kyiv | Reuters — Russia warned that from Thursday any ships sailing to Ukraine’s Black Sea ports would be seen as potentially carrying military cargoes, as Kyiv accused Moscow of carrying out “hellish” overnight strikes that damaged grain export infrastructure. Russia attacked the Odesa region for the second consecutive night after quitting on Monday a […] Read more

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (r) and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol attend a joint statement in Kyiv on July 15, 2023. Photo: Reuters/Valentyn Ogirenko

Grain shipping deal can operate without Russia, Zelenskyy says

'Blackmail is not allowed for anyone'

Kyiv | Reuters — The Black Sea grain shipment deal must continue and could operate without Russian participation after Moscow’s withdrawal on Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. Ukraine, Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address, was a food source for 400 million people. “Africa has the right to stability. Asia has the right to […] Read more


Liberia-flagged bulker K Sukret, carrying grain under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, waits for inspection in the southern anchorage of Istanbul on May 17, 2023. (Photo: Reuters/Mehmet Emin Caliskan)

UN asks Putin to extend Black Sea grain deal in return for SWIFT access

Grain export initiative to expire Monday otherwise

United Nations | Reuters — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has proposed to Russian President Vladimir Putin that he extend a deal allowing the safe Black Sea export of grain from Ukraine in return for connecting a subsidiary of Russia’s agricultural bank to the SWIFT international payment system, sources told Reuters. Russia has threatened to ditch […] Read more

Vessels are seen as they await inspection under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, brokered by the UN and Turkey, in the southern anchorage of the Bosphorus at Istanbul on Dec. 11, 2022. (File photo: Reuters/Yoruk Isik)

Ukraine ‘99.9 per cent’ certain Russia will quit Black Sea deal next month

Russia wants demands met on ammonia shipments

Kyiv | Reuters — Russia is 99.9 per cent certain to quit a U.N.-brokered deal on the safe wartime passage of Black Sea grain next month because it no longer needs Ukrainian ports to export ammonia, a senior Ukrainian diplomat said. The United Nations and Turkey brokered the Black Sea Grain Initiative with Moscow and […] Read more