Reuters
[Source: Reuters]
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said that if the G7 moved to ban exports to Russia, Moscow would respond by terminating the Black Sea grain deal that enables vital exports of grain from Ukraine. Russia has strongly signalled that it will not allow the deal to continue beyond May 18.
The Group of Seven (G7) economic powers called on Sunday for the “extension, full implementation and expansion” of the grain deal.
A first batch of Russian fertilizer which Latvia seized last year is being shipped to Kenya by the United Nations’ World Food Programme, Latvia’s Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.
Russia has cited the seizure as a key stumbling block to its continued participation in the grains deal.
Russia said on Saturday it was expelling more than 20 German diplomats in a tit-for-tat move. Germany did not immediately confirm any expulsions of its own, but said the arrival of a Russian government plane in Berlin was connected to the issue.
France and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania expressed dismay after China’s ambassador in Paris questioned the sovereignty of former Soviet countries like Ukraine.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Saturday he did not want to “please anyone” with his views about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, after provoking criticism in the West for suggesting Kyiv shared the blame for the war.
