Last ship sets sail under Black Sea grain deal
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The last ship under the Black Sea grain initiative, which unblocked Ukrainian agricultural exports amid full-scale war with Russia, left an Odesa port on Wednesday, Reuters reports.

The DSM Capella has left the port of Chornomorsk carrying 30,000 tonnes of corn and was on its way to Turkey, United Nations data shows.

It is the last ship to use the so-called grain corridor allowing the safe Black Sea export of Ukraine grain “a day before Russia could quit the pact over obstacles to its grain and fertiliser exports,” per Reuters.

Senior officials from Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the UN met in Istanbul on 11 May to discuss the Black Sea deal, but no results were reported afterwards.

The grain deal, struck in July 2022, provided for limited exports of Ukrainian grain through three Black Sea ports, which had been blocked since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Russia has claimed that the current grain deal does not guarantee its agricultural exports, allegedly blocked by Western sanctions in response to its aggression against Ukraine, and is threatening to quit the deal on 18 May, when it is set to expire.

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