The agreement on the export, via the Black Sea, of Ukrainian cereals, crucial for the world food supply, was extended on Wednesday for two months.
The announcement was made by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Wednesday. Signed last July between the United Nations, Ukraine, Russia and Turkey, the grain agreement in the Black Sea has been extended for two months. It has allowed the export of more than 30 million tonnes of Ukrainian cereals over the past ten months. Franceinfo takes stock of the main information of this new day of conflict.
Black Sea grain deal extended by two months
The agreement on the export via the Black Sea of Ukrainian cereals, crucial for the world’s food supply, was extended on Wednesday for two months, Turkish President Recep Tayyip announced Erdoğan. This agreement, which concerns Ukraine and Russia, concluded in July 2022 and which expired Thursday evening. “We are grateful to our partners, the UN and Turkey, for their efforts to strengthen global food security”, reacted in the wake of the Deputy Prime Minister for the Restoration of Ukraine, Oleksandre Kubrakov, who is following the file. The White House also welcomed the extension of the agreement, while wishing for a more “sustainable”.
A damaged, but still operational Patriot air defense system
A state-of-the-art Patriot air defense system supplied by the United States to Ukraine has been damaged but remains operational, a senior US defense official said on Wednesday. The assessment of the damage caused by an unidentified projectile that fell nearby was continuing, according to the same source.
The day before, the Russian army had claimed to have destroyed a Patriot defense system following a “high precision strike” carried out “by a Kinjal hypersonic missile”. kyiv had denied these Russian claims, claiming to have intercepted all the missiles launched by Russia on its territory overnight from Monday to Tuesday.
The G7 and Europe in turn sign a register of war damage
The United States, Japan, Canada and almost all European countries, including France, have signed a war damage register since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Launched on Tuesday on the occasion of the Council of Europe summit in Iceland, this census is intended to be a first step in view of requests for reparations addressed to Moscow for the thousands of victims and the billions of euros of destruction.
The initiative aims to show that the record of the “justice for ukraine” advance, when the prospect of a possible special tribunal for war crimes committed during the invasion remains remote.
London and Berlin hand over possible delivery of fighter jets to Washington
The British and German defense ministers said in Berlin on Wednesday that he was returning “to the White House” to decide on a possible delivery to kyiv of F-16 combat aircraft. “We don’t have F-16s and we’re not going to deliver Typhoon (aircraft) but obviously we can contribute training and support, within the limits of the fact that we don’t have F-16 pilots. -16”, explained British Minister Ben Wallace during a joint press conference with his German counterpart.
The proposal to create an “international coalition” in this sense was formulated on Tuesday by Downing Street following a meeting between British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte. Volodymyr Zelensky has been asking his Western allies for months to provide him with planes that would allow the Ukrainian army to strike Russian troops in depth.
Ukraine claims to have regained ground near Bakhmout
On the battlefield, kyiv said it was continuing to advance against the Russians near Bakhmout by advancing 500 meters in some areas on Wednesday. In recent days, the Ukrainian forces claim to have taken over 20 km2 in the northern and southern suburbs of the city. However, the Russian troops continue to advance within the city.
This local Ukrainian offensive does not seem to be the big attack that kyiv has been promising for months, Volodymyr Zelensky still recently believing that his army had “need more time”.