NATO member Turkey has sought to maintain good relations with Moscow and Kyiv throughout the two-year war, with Erdogan pitching himself as a key go-between and possible peace-maker.

Oil spills in Iraq -- a country ravaged by decades of conflict, corruption and decaying infrastructure -- have contaminated farmland in the northern province, especially during the winter rains.

World food prices fell in 2023, with considerable declines for grains and oils as supply concerns eased, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization said. The FAO's cereals price index fell 15.4 percent last year, "reflecting well supplied global markets" compared to 2022, when prices soared after Russia's invasion of Ukraine,...

The corridor was created in August to link Ukraine's ports to the Bosphorus Straits, several weeks after Moscow refused to agree on a new accord to allow cereal exports through the contested Black Sea. The now-defunct accord had allowed Ukraine to export nearly 33 million tons of cereals and other...

KHAN YUNIS, PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES - One of the last grain warehouses in the Gaza Strip has been damaged by Israeli strikes and a key flour mill in Khan Yunis -- where hundreds of thousands have fled -- has stopped working for lack of fuel. The store, also in Khan Yunis in...

Ukrainian officials said the Palau-flagged Resilient Africa vessel was carrying 3,000 tons of wheat when it left Ukraine's Chornomorsk port on Tuesday. It was destined for Israel, according to marine traffic websites, representing the first successful Black Sea voyage since Russia pulled out of a UN-backed deal to export Ukrainian...

Since pulling out of the deal, which aimed to ensure safe grain exports via the Black Sea, Russia has been keen to ally African concerns about the impact of the deal's collapse on food security. Putin said Russia was ready to return to the deal "as soon" as restrictions on...

MOSCOW, RUSSIA - Russian President Vladimir Putin will host his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday, the Kremlin said, amid hopes the two can restore a deal ensuring safe passage for grain shipments. Russia pulled out from the UN-backed grain agreement that Turkey helped broker in July, effectively revoking safe...

Moscow, Russia - Turkey's foreign minister said on a visit to Moscow on Thursday that reviving a deal to ship Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea was "critical" for food security. "We underlined its critical role for global food security and stability in the Black Sea," Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan...

According to TASS, quoting a diplomatic source, Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will propose to Russia at the upcoming talks in Moscow to resume the grain deal in its original format. The source said that Turkey is all for restarting the grain corridor in its original "format involving parties to...

The foreign minister said that his country does not see any alternative to the original initiative because in his words they carry risks. He completely dismissed an alternate route reportedly being considered by the US. Last month, Russia pulled out of a landmark deal that enabled Ukraine to export more...

Ankara, Turkey -- Turkey intensified talks with Ukraine, the United States, and the European Union on the grain deal in preparation for a possible meeting between Turkish and Russian Presidents Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin, TASS reported. "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defense, and the Ministry of...

Ankara, Turkey--Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday that the revival of a deal with Russia to allow Ukrainian grain exports, brokered by Ankara and the UN, "depends on Western countries which must keep their promises". "I think a solution can be found," Erdogan added, referring to a recent telephone...

BEIRUT, LEBANON - A Lebanese minister on Saturday sought to clarify comments condemned by Kuwait over aid money to rebuild Beirut's grain silos that were destroyed in a devastating port blast three years ago. The oil-rich Gulf state in 2020 said it was ready to rebuild the storehouses, which Lebanon had...

Putin has been threatening to pull out of the arrangement, arguing that elements of the deal allowing the export of Russian food and fertilizers have not been honored. Russia also accuses rich countries of profiting from the bulk of Ukrainian exports. But Zelensky says that "60% of the volumes" were...

The move by Moscow will "strike a blow to people in need everywhere", Guterres said. "Hundreds of millions of people face hunger and consumers are confronting a global cost-of-living crisis. They will pay the price," the UN chief said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the main objective of the deal that allowed Ukrainian grain exports to resume was not achieved, in a call with his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa. The deal that eased fears of a global food crisis sparked by the offensive in Ukraine is due to...

Russia delivered a new warning to the West over a grain deal with Ukraine, saying a number of conditions must be met for Moscow to extend it beyond May 18. Negotiated in July by Turkey and the United Nations, the agreement has given Ukrainian grain shipments a safe corridor in...

Warsaw, Poland - Poland's prime minister on Wednesday appealed to Brussels to limit the amount of Ukrainian grain entering the European Union, saying it was destabilizing local markets. Ukraine, one of the world's largest grain exporters, saw its traditional Black Sea export routes blocked or limited by Russia's invasion. The EU...

Turkey announced the extension of a deal that has allowed exports of Ukrainian grain to resume following Russia's invasion, but it was unclear if it had been prolonged for 60 or 120 days. Russia said it had agreed to a 60-day extension, while Ukraine's infrastructure minister said the deal had...

Consultations to prolong Ukrainian grain exports deal are continuing, the UN said, after a Russian proposal for just a 60-day extension cast doubt over its fate. "The United Nations will do everything possible to preserve the integrity of the agreement and ensure its continuity," Jens Laerke, spokesman for the United...

Russia has agreed to extend the Ukraine grain export deal following talks with the United Nations - but only for a further 60 days. Moscow said it wanted to see "tangible progress" on a parallel agreement on Russian exports before the deal comes up for renewal again.

MOSCOW, RUSSIA - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday that extending a deal that allowed grain exports from Ukraine to resume was becoming "complicated" as he claimed it was not being properly implemented. Russia's military intervention last February saw Ukraine's Black Sea ports blocked by warships until a deal last...

Kyiv, Ukraine--Ukraine estimates its grain harvest fell by around 40 percent year on year due to the Russian invasion, a representative for the country's industry told AFP Friday. "We expect a grain harvest of 65-66 million tonnes" by the end of the year, the head of the Ukrainian Grain Association Sergiy...

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND - UN chiefs are to hold talks with Russian officials in Geneva on Friday on the Black Sea agreements on exporting grain and fertilizers, eight days before the deals expire. The UN's humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths and Rebeca Grynspan, head of the UN's trade and development agency UNCTAD,...

Moscow had said on Saturday that it was temporarily pulling out of the grain deal, accusing Ukraine of using a safe shipping corridor established under the agreement to launch a drone assault on its Black Sea fleet.

As one of the brokers of the grain deal, Turkey has stepped up diplomacy with the two warring countries in a bid to save it as Russia warned that continuing to enforce the agreement without its participation would be "dangerous". The Kremlin said it would be "dangerous" to enforce the...

Russia's blockade of grain exports makes it "impossible" for fully loaded ships to leave port, Ukraine charged after Moscow claimed drone attacks on its Crimea fleet had exploited the grain corridor safe zone. Kyiv's maritime grain exports were halted after Russia pulled out of a landmark agreement that allowed the...

Russia suspended its participation in a pact that allowed grain exports from Ukraine, blaming alleged drone attacks on Russian ships in Crimea. Russia made the announcement after its army accused Kyiv earlier Saturday of a "massive" drone attack on its Black Sea fleet, while Britain rejected Moscow's claims its specialists...

Calling on "all parties" to make every effort to extend the agreement on Ukrainian grain exports, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appealed for an extension to the so-called Black Sea deal, signed in July by the UN, Ukraine, Russia and Turkey, allowing more than 9 million tons of Ukrainian grain...

World food prices have fallen for a sixth month in a row in September, UN data showed as they continued to fall after a record reached after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The Food and Agriculture Organization said its price index, which tracks monthly change in global prices of food commodities,...

Putin accused the European Union of blocking 300,000 tons of Russian fertilizer from reaching the world's poorest countries. "Our offer... to transfer for free 300,000 tons of Russian fertilizer blocked in European ports because of sanctions to countries that need it is still without an answer," he said.

Turkey can mediate in a standoff over Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, occupied by Moscow's troops, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Saturday. "President Erdogan said Turkey can play a facilitator role in the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, as they did in the grain deal," the...

If the apex banks focus too much on core inflation, it will be a big mistake. Food and energy will be at the center of the crisis years with climate change and green transformation being inflationary in the years to come. Investors should increasingly invest in the tangible world to...

A cloud of dust rose over the port after the collapse, which brought down the last of the northern block of silos that was more heavily damaged in the blast and where a fire had been burning since last month. The remaining southern block is more stable and not at...

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called for wealthier countries to help developing nations purchase Ukrainian grain as supplies begin returning to global markets,. Ships carrying grain have been leaving there under a recent UN-brokered agreement, and Guterres said Odesa was a symbol of what countries can achieve when they work...

Russian fertilizers and agricultural products must be able to reach world markets "unimpeded" or a global food crisis could strike as early as next year, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said Saturday. "It is important that all governments and the private sector cooperate to bring them to market," he said...

The UN brokered agreement lifted a Russian blockade of Ukraine's ports and established safe corridors through the naval mines laid by Kyiv.

The prosecutor found that the grain aboard the vessel belonged to a Syrian merchant, the judicial official said.

The first shipment of Ukrainian grain left the port of Odessa on Monday morning, Turkey announced, as Kyiv said the "brutal" shelling by Moscow of the southern city Mykolaiv had killed an agriculture tycoon.

In bankrupt Lebanon, Khalil Mansour has to queue for hours every day just to buy bread for his family and some days he can't afford any.

A Lebanese prosecutor ordered the seizure Saturday of a Syrian-flagged ship that docked at a northern port with a cargo of Ukrainian grain Kyiv's embassy in Beirut said was "illegal".

The UAE has welcomed the agreement reached between Russia and Ukraine on the export of grain, and has applauded the role of Turkey and the United Nations in helping the two countries to sign the Black Sea Grain Export deal.

Ukraine and Russia and two of the world's largest grain producers.

The war in Ukraine has caused food insecurity in Arab nations, many of which are heavily dependent on wheat imports from the former Soviet state. His address comes days after Russia took part in a summit hosted by Iran and attended by Turkey.

Ukraine on Friday asked Turkey to detain a Russian-flagged cargo ship that Kyiv alleged had set off from a Kremlin-occupied port. Marine traffic websites showed the Zhibek Zholy anchored about a kilometer (half a mile) off Turkey's Black Sea port of Karasu. They also showed the ship only switching on...

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Monday that Russia should be held "accountable" if it keeps blocking the export of vitally needed grain from Ukraine.

Iraq passed Wednesday an emergency finance bill to pay debts to Iran to ensure gas supplies and forestall worsening power cuts, as well as to buy grain for "food security".

Wall Street stocks fell early Tuesday as the World Bank slashed its global growth outlook and Target warned of lower profits in the current quarter. The World Bank cut its growth estimate for the global economy to 2.9 percent, 1.2 percentage points below the January forecast, in the wake of...

World food prices hit an all-time high in March following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which accounted for 20 percent of global wheat and maize exports over the past three years