Russia shows no willingness to extend – grain deal is about to end Forest fire on the Spanish volcanic island of La Palma: 500 people evacuated

In the war between Russia and Ukraine, one of the few valid agreements between the two sides is about to collapse. The international grain deal, which allowed Ukraine to sell millions of tons of corn and wheat across the Black Sea despite the fighting, expires this Monday. Until the last hours, Moscow showed no willingness to extend it. In Africa in particular, there is a fear that important foodstuffs will become even more scarce.

Both warring sides continued to fight bitterly throughout the weekend. According to Western experts, the Ukrainian counter-offensive is making little progress. After the first shipments of internationally banned cluster munitions from the US arrived in Ukraine, Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin threatened to use such munitions as well. Russia has “sufficient reserves” for this, he said on state television. According to reports, Russia has long been using cluster bombs.

Zelensky urges “complete liberation”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated that the goal was the “complete liberation” of his country from Russian occupation. The Russian Defense Ministry reported several Ukrainian drone strikes on the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, occupied by Russia since 2014, all of which had been repelled. The Russian Black Sea Fleet has its port in Sevastopol. The Russian offensive war against the neighboring country lasts almost 17 months.

Given such tones, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is very pessimistic about the prospects for peace in Ukraine. In the near future, she sees no basis for negotiations with Putin, the Greens politician told various Springer Group media outlets. “I wish we could negotiate. But right now it’s not (about) what you want. But right now it’s about looking reality in the eye.”

Possibly the last grain carrier has sailed

The grain deal, which was painstakingly negotiated with the help of Turkey and the United Nations, expires this Monday at 11pm CEST. Ukraine – one of the world’s leading grain exporters before the war – was able to ship 33 million tons in the past twelve months. On Sunday, one of the last ships may have left the port of Odessa, the freighter “TQ Samsun”. According to the UN, it is loaded with more than 15,000 tons of rapeseed.

Many other governments and the United Nations are calling on Russia not to let the agreement expire. According to the Kremlin, Putin justified the refusal in a phone call with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa by saying Moscow’s demands to end export restrictions on Russian food and fertilizer would not be met. The Kremlin wants the West to ease sanctions imposed because of the war. However, the West is not ready for this.

The agreement was also the subject of a first meeting between Zelenskyy and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Saturday in Kiev. Yoon promised support. Zelenskyj later said in a video message that the size of international aid would determine when Russia’s war against his country would end.

Use of cluster bombs banned internationally

The delivery of cluster munitions, which US President Joe Biden recently approved, is especially controversial with Western aid. Ukraine has so far left open under what circumstances it intends to use cluster bombs. Such bombs explode in mid-air, scattering projectiles over larger areas. Germany and 110 other countries have banned them for this reason – but not the US, Russia and Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the Russian domestic secret service FSB accused the Ukrainian secret service SBU of planning assassinations of prominent journalists. For example, an attack on the editor-in-chief of the state television channel RT, Margarita Simonyan, was prevented. The prominent presenter Xenia Sobchak should also have been killed. Ukraine denied the allegations. The information provided by both parties cannot be independently verified. (sda/dpa)