The Black Sea safe-transit deal that’s allowed Ukraine to export millions of tons of grain in the past year expires on Monday, and a potential decision by Russia to renew it is coming down to the wire. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters he hopes a letter sent to Vladimir Putin by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres this week will help to secure an extension of pact. So far Russia has made no statement on extending the deal, Putin says he’s still deliberating, and Moscow has
(Bloomberg) — The Black Sea safe-transit deal that’s allowed Ukraine to export millions of tons of grain in the past year expires on Monday, and a potential decision by Russia to renew it is coming down to the wire. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters he hopes a letter sent to Vladimir Putin by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres this week will help to secure an extension of pact. So far Russia has made no statement on extending the deal, Putin says he’s still deliberating, and Moscow has frequently derided the pact as unfair to its interests.
Putin told a Russian newspaper that he offered Wagner mercenary forces the option of continuing to serve as a single unit under the same commander when he met with them after last month’s failed mutiny, the Associated Press reported. “All of them could have gathered in one place and continued to serve,” Putin told Kommersant. “And nothing would have changed for them. A group of Wagner mercenaries was shown in a Belarusian defense ministry video on Friday, training territorial troops in the Russian ally, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) southeast of the capital Minsk.
Germany’s finance minister said further financing of support for Ukraine should be distinct from the EU’s long-term budget, and that the bloc will continue to find ways to help Kyiv. In the US, the House of Representatives defeated an effort by far-right Republicans to cut off security assistance to Ukraine, cementing — for now — a wall of bipartisan support for Kyiv. Yet a senior US intelligence official said the conflict has reached a stalemate in its 17th month, a downbeat assessment that could strain allies’ patience.
Latest Coverage
- Pentagon Says Cluster Munitions Have Arrived in Ukraine: AP
- BRICS Leaders to Discuss Russian War in Ukraine at August Summit
- Lindner Says Further Ukraine Aid Must Be Outside EU Budget
- Russian Wagner Mercenaries Emerge in Belarus as Troop Trainers
- Ukraine Bonds Set for Weekly Gain; BofA Stays Overweight
Coming Up
- Russia’s Sergei Lavrov at ASEAN meeting in Indonesia
- Black Sea grain export deal set to expire Monday
Markets
Oil Heads for Third Weekly Gain
Oil headed for a third weekly gain as supply disruptions in Africa and a reduction in shipments from Russia tightened the market. Russian flows are finally starting to decline, four months after the country was due to slash output.
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