Poland and four other eastern members of the EU want to prolong a ban on grain imports from Ukraine, setting up a potential showdown over limits that expire in mid-September. The request is likely to further complicate Kyiv’s efforts to find routes for its exports after Russia pulled out of a deal to allow shipments via the Black Sea. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy discussed grain shipments with Turkey’s foreign minister in Kyiv.
(Bloomberg) — Poland and four other eastern members of the EU want to prolong a ban on grain imports from Ukraine, setting up a potential showdown over limits that expire in mid-September. The request is likely to further complicate Kyiv’s efforts to find routes for its exports after Russia pulled out of a deal to allow shipments via the Black Sea. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy discussed grain shipments with Turkey’s foreign minister in Kyiv.
The Kremlin termed “an absolute lie” allegations by the US that Wagner mercenary group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin was the victim of an assassination probably approved by President Vladimir Putin. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said the plane crash that killed ten, including Prigozhin, two months after the failed Wagner mutiny against Russia’s military leadership was too “crude” to have involved his close ally Putin.
Kyiv’s allies worry the war – now into its 19th month – is dragging on with hopes fading for Ukraine’s counteroffensive to yield a definitive breakthrough. Ukraine’s ground troops made progress in areas near Robotyne in the Zaporizhzhia region, the General Staff said on Facebook. Russia’s defense ministry said its forces downed or demobilized 42 drones fired by Ukraine overnight, including nine over Crimea, and also shot down an S-200 missile over a region that borders Moscow.
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Markets
Oil prices are headed for a second weekly loss on signs of improving supply and a deteriorating economic situation in China, the biggest importer. Still, crude remains markedly higher than its lows in June, driven largely by supply cuts by OPEC+ linchpins Saudi Arabia and Russia.
Coming Up
- Russian deputy FM Sergei Ryabkov holds news conference on BRICS summit
- Turkey’s foreign minister in Kyiv
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