NATO, Russia work separately on food shortage

NATO has held meetings over the past week to organize support for Ukraine after Russia backed out of a wartime deal that allowed grain shipments through the Black Sea. The United States promised $250 million last week in support of Ukraine’s agricultural infrastructure. President Vladimir Putin recently met with representatives from Africa in St. Petersburg, Russia. In response to the collapse of the Black Sea grain deal, Putin promised free Russian grain shipments to some African countries.

How has the end of the deal affected grain exports? Russia has threatened any ship attempting to dock at Ukrainian ports to the Black Sea, effectively halting all grain exports from the country. The bombing of Ukrainian port cities, such as Odesa, has destroyed nearly 60,000 tons of grain. That is enough food to feed 270,000 people for a year, according to Barbara Woodward, British ambassador to the UN.

Dig deeper: Read Josh Schumacher’s report on the signing of the wartime grain agreement.