‘Grain agreement’: US to provide Ukraine with $250m to support farmers

U.S. aid chief Samantha Power on Tuesday pledged $250 million in new funding to help Ukrainian farmers reeling from blocked Black Sea grain shipments since Russia’s invasion last year.

Moscow on Monday pulled out of a U.N.-brokered deal allowing the safe passage of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea in a move U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called “a blow to people in need everywhere”.

Speaking in the port of Odesa, Power said the investment, via a USAID initiative focused on Ukraine’s agriculture sector, would aim to boost agricultural infrastructure and expand other export routes.

On July 17, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced the suspension of the grain deal. Russia also announced the withdrawal of shipping security guarantees under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which ceased to be effective on Monday, July 17.

At the same time, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he believed that the Russian president actually wanted to extend the so-called “grain deal” and would talk to him about it.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that the UN and Turkey must have the political will to extend the grain deal.

Tags: USA, Black Sea grain deal, Ukraine