Ukraine: Grain deal expiration a 'blow to people in need'

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Russia tells South Africa that arresting Putin would mean 'declaration of war'

Moscow warned South Africa that arresting Russian President Vladimir Putin would amount to a "declaration of war," said the southern country on Tuesday. 

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Putin in March for alleged war crimes in Ukraine. 

Putin has been invited to Johannesburg for a summit held by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) from August 22 to 24, despite the warrant. 

South Africa is currently facing increasing international pressure to execute the arrest warrant if Putin attends the summit. 

After Russia's threat to South Africa, the country has applied to the ICC for an exemption.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa made it clear that he could not justify "taking the risk of war with Russia" and that he was committed to "protecting the national sovereignty, peace and security," of his nation.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said "this is no time to slow down on Ukraine" after meeting with the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.

"We are seeing Ukraine make progress, Russia's losses mount," Austin said after a virtual meeting of the group.

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley said the Ukrainian counteroffensive was going "to be long, it's going to be hard, it's going to be bloody."

He said it was far too early to judge the counteroffensive, adding that Ukraine has "a significant amount of combat power not yet committed." 

Ukraine has called on Western allies to deliver ammunition as quickly as possible as it fights to take back territories occupied by Russia.

The US recently supplied Kyiv with controversial cluster munitions.

French President Emmanuel Macron called Russia's decision to withdraw from the Black Sea grain deal a "huge" mistake.

Macron said Russian leader Putin decided to "weaponize food" while speaking with reporters at a summit in Brussels on Tuesday.

In English, Macron said he was thinking "of other Middle Eastern, African and even Asian countries very much dependent on this agreement" and ones that would be impacted.

He added that if people were still doubting Putin's "commitment to the common good," this decision to withdraw should make that answer "very clear"

The grain agreement that allowed the safe passage of food grains from Ukrainian ports to other parts of the world —  and one that stabilized global food prices —  lies in jeopardy with Russia withdrawing from the deal Monday.

Following Russia's unilateral withdrawal from the Black Sea grain deal and its threats to ships transporting agricultural goods from Ukraine, the EU said on Tuesday that it was looking into expanding export routes via road and rail.

Some 60% of Ukrainian grain is already transported over land through what the EU calls solidarity lanes, according to the European Commission. The question is what will happen now to the volume that was exported through the Black Sea.

"There are other ways to get the grain out of Ukraine, for example through Romania and through Poland," Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said from Brussels.

"If the Russians persist in this policy of preventing Ukraine from exporting grain and fertiliser, we will have to find other ways to get the grain out," he added.

But the export of Ukrainian goods via Europe has caused problems to local markets in Poland and some other EU countries who may not be happy to see that volume increase.

That may be why the EU is also supporting efforts by the UN and Turkey to bring Russia back into the Black Sea deal, Reuters reporting, citing a top EU official.

The EU's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, also condemned Russia's decision not to extend the deal, calling it "one of the worst things [Russian President Vladimir] Putin could have done.

"It means that hundreds of thousands of people around the world will be deprived of basic food," he said.

The head of the USAID development agency, Samantha Power, revealed a package of $250 million (€222.6 million) in funding for farmers who have been hit by the Russian blockade of grain exports over the Black Sea.

The blockade came into effect when Russia launched its invasion in February last year. The Black Sea grain deal lifted this blockade temporarily, but on Monday Russia withdrew from the deal, throwing the future of Ukrainian agricultural exports into question.

Power made her pledge while visiting the major Ukrainian port city of Odesa. She said that funds would go towards boosting agricultural infrastructure and expanding export routes.

She called on other governments and the private sector to match USAID's $250 million.

"We have a collective interest in ensuring that Ukrainian farmers stay in business," she said in a briefing with Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov.

A day after quitting the Black Sea grain deal, Moscow said that attempts by Ukraine to continue exporting grain across the sea could incur "risks" due to a lack of security guarantees.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Turkey and the UN — the mediators of the previous deal — could continue to keep Ukrainian ships exporting grain to the international market.

But Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov apparently rejected this as a possibility, saying that Russia carries out military activities in Black Sea waters.

"We're talking about an area that's close to a war zone... Without the appropriate security guarantees, certain risks arise there. So if something is formalised without Russia, these risks should be taken into account," he told a briefing.

Reports of fighting and small advances emerged from eastern Ukraine on Tuesday, albeit without any major breakthroughs.

Ukrainian General Oleksander Syrskyi wrote on his Telegram channel that "the situation is complicated" in the eastern part of the country, but that it was "under control."

He said Russian forces were concentrated around Bakhmut as Ukrainian forces pushed forward, but also around Kupiansk where Ukrainian forces were defending.

The Russian Defense Ministry also said its troops had made advances of up to 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) in the direction of Kupiansk, Russian news agency TASS reported.

The UK's Ministry of Defence said in its daily intelligence update on Tuesday that Russian forces had also been trying to push through around Kremina and further south, with a focus on Avdiivka, but that these assaults had had "little success."

The ministry said that "Ukraine continues to resource significant effort around Russian-held Bakhmut" where "Russian forces are likely fragile but holding for now."

At the same time, Ukrainian forces were reportedly continuing attacks in the south but were "unlikely to have yet broken into Russia's primary defensive lines."

The Russian war in Ukraine has caused a rift between the EU and countries from Central and South America during a summit in Brussels.

The EU had hoped for a joint statement of support for Ukraine and condemnation of Russian aggression, but this has come up against obstruction and hesitation from certain states.

While Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua are strong supporters of Russia, even countries like Mexico, Brazil and Argentina have been hesitant to back Ukraine and have refrained from imposing sanctions on Russia.

"It is important to say that you can't rewrite history, that the Russians attacked Ukraine, that's a fact," said Luxembourg's Prime Minister Xavier Bettel.

"Sometimes it's better to have no conclusions at all than to have language that doesn't mean anything," Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said.

Tuesday is the closing day of the first such summit in eight years. But the standoff over the war soured hopes of strengthening relations.

The two-day meeting of economic and finance policymakers from the Group of 20 nations is set to conclude on Tuesday without a joint statement on Russia's war in Ukraine, an Indian officials hosting the event told Reuters news agency.

The lack of a statement is attributed to the differences among major powers regarding the ongoing war.

India, as the current president of the G20, had aimed to achieve consensus on various economic and financial issues. However, the Russia-Ukraine conflict has cast a shadow over these objectives.

While most Western countries, such as the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and France, advocated for a strong condemnation of Russia and its actions in Ukraine, Russia and its ally China opposed such a move.

The Indian government official, who requested anonymity, explained that differing opinions on labeling the conflict as a "war" or a "special military operation," as Russia continues to call its campaign, hindered the drafting of a universally acceptable final communique.

India has adopted a relatively neutral stance in the issue calling for a diplomatic resolution, but refraining from blaming to Russia for the invasion. At the same time, India has increased its purchases of discounted oil from Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned of military retaliation against Ukraine after the after accusing Kyiv of orchestrating an attack on the bridge connecting Russia to the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea.

"Naturally, Russia's response will follow. The Defense Ministry is working on relevant proposals," Putin said at a meeting of the Russian leadership in Moscow on Monday evening, the TASS state news agency reported.

Putin demanded heightened security measures to fortify the bridge.

Late on Monday, there was a partial reopening of road traffic on one lane of the Crimean Bridge, according to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin. He confirmed this on his Telegram channel.

However, ferry operations remained suspended early on Tuesday due to unfavorable weather conditions. Russian agencies, citing the emergency situations ministry of Crimea, which is supported by Moscow, reported the temporary halt in ferry services.

Ukrainian Air Force officials said Russia launched air attacks overnight on Ukraine's southern and eastern regions, employing drones and potentially ballistic missiles.

In Mykolaiv, a fire broke out at one of the port "facilities" late on Monday, Mayor Oleksandr Senkevich said, calling the fire "quite serious."

Mykolaiv is a crucial port city that provides Ukraine with access to the Black Sea.

The Ukrainian Air Force issued warnings on the Telegram messaging app, stating that the southern port of Odesa, as well as the regions of Mykolaiv, Donetsk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and Dnipropetrovsk, were under the threat of further drone attacks from Russia.

The Russian Defense Ministry called the attack in Odesa a "revenge strike"  after the bridge linking Russia and Crimea was damaged on Monday, the IFAX news agency reported.

"At night, the armed forces of the Russian Federation delivered a group revenge strike with high-precision sea-based weapons at facilities where terrorist acts against Russia had been prepared using unmanned boats," the Russian army said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Russia repelled a Ukrainian drone attack on Crimea in the early hours of Tuesday, the Russian Defense Ministry said, adding that the "terrorist attack" did not inflict any damage or casualties.

Russian air defenses destroyed 17 drones, while an additional 11 drones were intercepted using electronic warfare systems, the ministry added.

In recent weeks, there has been an escalation in drone attacks in Crimea, coinciding with Ukraine's counteroffensive against Russian forces.

Ukraine activated its aerial defenses in the coastal city of Odesa as Russia carried out missile and drone strikes on southern and eastern Ukraine overnight that caused damage to infrastructure in the Black Sea port city, Ukrainian officials said Tuesday.

Sergiy Bratchuk, the Ukrainian spokesperson for the Odesa military region, announced on the messaging platform Telegram that air defense operations were underway in Odesa.

The Russian strikes come following a blast on the bridge linking Russia to Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014, and Moscow's refusal to extend the agreement enabling grain exports from the region.

The city, located in southern Ukraine, houses maritime terminals that played a crucial role in the expired grain export agreement between Moscow and Kyiv.

The grain deal, signed in July 2022, had allowed for the passage of vital grain shipments through Ukraine's Black Sea ports, which were previously blocked by Russian warships during the invasion last year.

Oleg Kiper, the head of the Odesa region's military administration, took to Telegram to inform residents that Russia was "attacking the south of Ukraine with attack drones."

He urged people to stay in shelters.

Germany has a responsibility to prevent future wars and crimes due to its historic responsibility for "the most severe crimes in the world," German Foreign MinisterAnnalena Baerbock told DW on Monday.

She stressed the importance of applying pressure on Putin to reverse the decision not to extend the deal that allowed Ukraine to export its grain amid the war, saying that it has "shocked" every country and every United Nations delegate.

On the sidelines of a ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the creation of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Baerbock stressed: "It was and still is, our responsibility to strengthen international law in order to prevent future wars, to prevent genocide, crimes against humanity."

Russia's decision on Monday to reject an extension of an agreement allowing Ukrainian grain exports through the Black Sea has sparked widespread condemnation from the United Nations.

The UN warned that millions of the world's poorest people would be the ones to suffer the consequences.

The July 2022 agreement had been crucial in facilitating the passage of vital grain shipments through Ukraine's Black Sea ports, which had been blocked by Russian warships during Moscow's invasion last year.

The withdrawal from the deal by Moscow came shortly after drones targeted the only bridge connecting Russian territory to the annexed Crimea peninsula — a vital supply route for Russian forces in southern Ukraine.

The Kremlin cited unfulfilled obligations regarding the export of Russian food and fertilizers as the reason for its exit from the agreement, a complaint they had voiced for months.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed deep concern over Russia's decision.

"Hundreds of millions of people face hunger and consumers are confronting a global cost-of-living crisis. They will pay the price," he told reporters.

In response, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declared that Ukraine remained prepared to continue exporting grain through the Black Sea, despite Russia's withdrawal.

There are fears that Moscow's action could lead to a blockade of Ukrainian ports by Russian ships, as witnessed during the early months of the conflict, further escalating global food prices.

ss/sms (AP, Reuters, AFP, DPA)