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Russia halts participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative, the UN-backed deal that reopened Ukraine’s ports to feed countries around the world

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The Sierra Leone-flagged cargo ship Razoni, carrying Ukrainian grain, is seen in the Black Sea off Kilyos, near Istanbul, Turkey August 3, 2022.
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Mehmet Caliskan | Reuters

WASHINGTON – Moscow suspended its participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative, an agreement brokered earlier this year that reopened Ukrainian ports for agricultural product export.
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Russia’s Ministry of Defense said on Saturday that it would halt participation, citing retaliation for Kyiv’s “act of terrorism” against Russian warships. Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Ukrainian armed forces launched “massive air and sea strikes using unmanned aerial vehicles against ships and infrastructure of the Russian Black Sea Fleet at the naval base in Sevastopol.”

Russia also said British operators helped Ukraine’s military carry out the predawn attack, adding that at least 15 drones were involved.

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Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Russia was using the attack as a “false pretext” for blocking the “grain corridor which ensures food security for millions of people.”

“We have warned of Russia’s plans to ruin the Black Sea Grain Initiative,” Kuleba wrote in a tweet. “I call on all states to demand Russia to stop its hunger games and recommit to its obligations.”

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Before the war, Ukraine and Russia accounted for almost a quarter of global grain exports until those shipments came to a severe halt for nearly six months.

Ukraine is typically the world’s top producer and exporter of sunflower meal, oil and seed, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. Ukraine is also the world’s seventh-largest wheat producer.

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The grain harvester collects wheat on the field near the village of Zgurivka in the Kyiv region, while Russia continues the war against Ukraine. August 9, 2022.

Maxym Marusenko | Nurphoto | Getty Images

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The Black Sea Grain Initiative, a United Nations-backed deal brokered in July, eased Russia’s naval blockade and saw the reopening of three key Ukrainian ports. The first vessel left Ukraine’s port of Odesa on Aug. 1 carrying more than 26,000 metric tons of corn. Since then, nearly 400 ships carrying a total of 9 million metric tons have departed Ukraine’s ports.

Of the 40 countries receiving Ukrainian foodstuffs from the initiative, Spain has accepted the majority of agricultural products totaling 1.8 million metric tons.

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Representatives from Ukraine, Russia, the U.N. and Turkey held negotiations to create the sea corridor in Istanbul earlier this year and signed the landmark deal in July. The agreement, which is set to expire next month, has helped address the mounting food crisis triggered, in part, by Russia’s war on its ex-Soviet neighbor.

The U.N. said in a statement that they are in touch with Russian authorities on the matter.

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 “It is vital that all parties refrain from any action that would imperil the Black Sea Grain Initiative which is a critical humanitarian effort that is clearly having a positive impact on access to food for millions of people around the world,” wrote Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the U.N. Secretary-General, in a statement.

Russia’s foreign ministry said that it delivered relevant instructions to the Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul, which oversees the export of agricultural products from Ukraine.

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‘Talk about Rajneeti, not Parineeti…’: AAP leader Raghav Chadha on dating rumours with Bollywood actress

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Congress top brass meets after Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification

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The Congress‘ top brass, including party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and former AICC chief Sonia Gandhi, met on Friday to deliberate on the party’s strategy going forward after Rahul Gandhi‘s disqualification from Lok Sabha. A meeting was already scheduled for Friday evening but after Rahul Gandhi’s conviction, top leaders assembled at 6 pm at the party headquarters with his disqualification being top of the agenda. Besides Kharge and Sonia Gandhi, Congress general secretaries Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, K C Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh, Rajiv Shukla and Tariq Anwar, senior leaders P Chidambaram, Anand Sharma, Ambika Soni, Mukul Wasnik, Salman Khurshid and Pawan Kumar Bansal, among others, were also present at the meeting.

Sources said Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification and party’s strategy and plans for agitations were top of the agenda at the meeting.

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Rahul Gandhi was on Friday disqualified from Lok Sabha following his conviction by a Surat court in a 2019 criminal defamation case, an action the party termed an attempt to “silence” his voice as it vowed to fight the battle legally and politically.



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Under PM Modi’s leadership, attempt is being made to destroy country: Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi Assembly

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Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal launched an attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday and said under his leadership, an attempt is being made to destroy the country. In a speech in the Delhi Assembly, he also accused Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena of obstructing the work of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government. “I want to tell BJP people that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, an attempt is being made to destroy the country. Those who want to destroy the country should be in BJP and those who want to save the country should leave BJP,” he said.

There was an uproar in the Assembly when Kejriwal spoke about the prime minister.

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Referring to the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from Lok Sabha, Kejriwal targeted the central government and said “they are scared”. Gandhi was disqualification from the Lok Sabha upon his conviction and sentencing in a criminal defamation case.

Kejriwal asked LG Saxena to work together with the government for the development of Delhi.

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“I want to tell LG sahab, ‘You have come from Gujarat. You are our guest’. I don’t think he would be knowing even the names of Delhi roads. But we don’t want fights. We want to work together. What will future generations say? They were fighting. We have to take sewer connections to every household, buy new buses, improve traffic situation…let’s do it together.

“We will work with you. It is not India-Pakistan war. When CM and LG start working together, it will actually be a double engine government,” he said.

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