Let’s see if they make it
The supposed agreement to allow Ukraine to resume agricultural exports by sea that was brokered by Turkey and Iran has been proceeding in fits and starts from the beginning. The day after the Kremlin signed off on the deal they turned around and shelled the port city of Odesa. But now, NBC News is reporting that the first ship full of corn has left Odesa and will bring the crops to ports in Africa. Of course, this assumes that the Russians don’t seize the ship during their “inspection” of it. It also assumes that the mines have been sufficiently cleared from that region of the Black Sea and the ship doesn’t mysteriously have a hole blown in it and sink. But if this shipment goes through, it could mark a return to at least some sense of “normalcy” for the Ukrainian economy after many months of a protracted war with the Russians.
NBC is being rather generous in saying that “doubts over Russia’s commitment to any deal will continue.” That’s putting it mildly. Russia has broken virtually every agreement they’ve made with Ukraine since the beginning of the war.
