Wires-Zelenskyy Discusses Alternatives On Grain Exports Via Corridor

Wires reporting that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has discussed potential alternatives for Ukraine regarding grain exports via a corridor. The comments come a day after Kyiv announced a 'humanitarian corridor' in the Black Sea to allow container ships trapped in Ukrainian ports since the collapse of the Black Sea Grain Initiative in July. This corridor is intended, at least initially, to allow ships stuck in port since the launch of Russia's invasion in February 2022 to leave unmolested, and does not apply to grain ships that were covered by the grain initiative.

• The comments on 'alternatives' to the grain initiative come amid increasing attacks on grain infrastructure. FT: "Russian forces have carried out missile strikes against Ukrainian grain terminals and threatened to target all ships travelling across the Black Sea to its ports, while Kyiv has launched drone strikes against a Russian naval vessel and an oil tanker."
• On 9 August, Bloomberg reported on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stating that he would seek to revive the grain initiative with an 'expanded scope' in the first steps towards eventual peace talks. BBG: “We had another chance to learn first hand Russia’s demands and expectations during a phone call with” Russian President Vladimir Putin,” Erdogan said in Ankara late Tuesday, [...]. Contacts to restart the initiative “with an expanded scope” are ongoing but a solution depends on western countries “fulfilling their promises,” he added, without specifying which commitments had been broken."