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Balanced Reporting. Trusted Insights.
Thursday, April 03, 2025
The United Nations was quick to applaud a deal struck in mid-May to keep the Black Sea Grain Initiative from imploding under Russian pressure, but about two weeks later Moscow is again blocking vessel access to Ukrainian ports amid talks to clear an obstacle to Russian ammonia exports.
Work requirements remain in play in the debt ceiling negotiations between the White House and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. It’s still not clear which program might be affected, but President Biden has once again signaled that he might go along with some changes.
A deal has been reached to keep Ukrainian grain exports flowing out of Odesa ports for at least two more months under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, according to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Ukraine’s ability to keep exporting wheat, corn and other ag commodities under the threatened Black Sea Grain Initiative will be a major focus when world ag leaders meet later this week in Japan for a summit ofG7 agriculture ministers, says USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, who will be attending.
Eastern European leaders have consistently supported Ukraine as it battles Russian forces, but they are struggling to maintain that united front as their farmers contend with Ukrainian grain that has flooded their domestic markets and depressed prices.
Ukrainian grain exports through the Black Sea resumed Wednesday after a one-day halt amid tensions over Russian demands to improve its ability to export fertilizer, according to a United Nations spokesman.
Russia, Ukraine and Turkey have agreed to renew the Black Sea Grain Initiative and allow Ukrainian wheat, corn and other farm commodities to continue flowing out of Odesa ports as the war rages on, according to a statement by the United Nations on Saturday, the last day for the deal to be extended.
Russia is once again raising doubts about the renewal of the Black Sea Grain Initiative and the long-term viability of the improbable wartime deal that is allowing Ukraine to supply much of the world with grain and keep food prices from skyrocketing in some of the poorest countries.
Russia has agreed to a 60-day extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative – just half of the 120-day term that was originally agreed to in last year's deal that allowed Ukraine to export wheat and corn through its Odesa ports.
