First shipment of Ukraine’s grain is a test of wartime deal with Russia (Los Angeles Times)
Los Angeles Times published an article stating that after several months, Ukraine and Russia agreed to opening ports in the Black Sea region. The first cargo ship to leave Ukraine since Russia invaded its neighbor more than five months ago was off the coast of Bulgaria on Tuesday as it headed toward Istanbul, putting to the test an agreement signed last month between Moscow and Kyiv that aims to help alleviate a global food crisis. Most of the roughly 20 million tons of grain stuck in Ukraine since the start of the war is to feed livestock, according to senior research fellow David Laborde. Only 6 million tons of that trapped grain is wheat, and just half of that is for human consumption. He said, “Monday’s departure of a large shipment of corn from Ukraine to Lebanon is actually chicken feed. A few ships leaving Ukraine is not going to be a game-changer.”