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Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov will begin an African tour in Egypt on Sunday, Reuters reported, seeking to draw on demand for non-Western alliances as Moscow pushes back against international censure over the war in Ukraine.
In Egypt, Lavrov will meet officials trying to square deep links to Russia with their close relationship to the United States, which along with other Western powers sought to isolate Russia with tough sanctions after its Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine.
After meeting Arab League members in Cairo, he will travel to Ethiopia and Uganda, two countries whose relations with the West have come under strain, as well as Congo Republic.
Ukraine has about $10 billion worth of grain available for sale in the wake of a deal signed with Russia to unblock supplies and will also have a chance to sell the current harvest, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday, according to Reuters.
"This is another demonstration that Ukraine can withstand the war," Zelenskyy said in a late-night address.
Russia and Ukraine signed a landmark deal on Friday to reopen Ukrainian Black Sea ports for grain exports, raising hopes that an international food crisis aggravated by the Russian invasion can be eased.
"Approximately 20 million tons of last year's grain harvest will be exported. There will also be a chance to sell this year's harvest ... at the moment we have about $10 billion worth of grains available," Zelenskyy said.
The deal, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey, was a chance to prevent a global food catastrophe that could cause chaos in many countries, he said.
"There may be some provocations on the part of Russia, attempts to discredit Ukrainian and international efforts," said Zelenskyy. "But we trust the United Nations."
Demilitarization and "de-Nazification." Keeping Ukraine out of NATO. Preventing "genocide" in the Donbas. And now, a land grab, seizing territory with an eye toward incorporation into Russia.
For the Kremlin, there have been various justifications and goals for its invasion of Ukraine, launched five months ago on July 24. For Ukraine, the response has been straightforward: defending its territory. For the West, however, the shifting rationales have required shifting responses, in helping Ukraine both fight the war and find some basis for negotiation.
It's not easy when your opponent keeps changing his tune, .
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday that Western nations would be watching to ensure the grain deal did not put Ukraine at risk of being further invaded by Russia, Reuters reported.
"The G-7 is working closely with partners like Turkey and others to ensure that we can get that grain out of Ukraine and to places around the world where it's needed without putting at risk Ukraine's sovereignty and protection," Trudeau said.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Moscow would not use the de-mining of Ukraine's ports for further attacks, according to Reuters.
"Russia has taken on the obligations that are clearly spelled out in this document. We will not take advantage of the fact that the ports will be cleared and opened," Shoigu said on the Rossiya-24 state TV channel.
Ukraine's infrastructure minister Oleksandr Kubrakov also said that Kyiv does not see a risk of Russian ships attacking through Ukrainian ports.
A farmer from Zaporizhzhia told CNN he felt positively about the grain export deal, but he said he was wary of its implementation.
"We will watch and observe what will happen. It's good that they signed. But there are no results yet," Pavlo Serhienko said on Friday. “The price will be higher in the ports, but you still have to get there. We need to hire a car, logistics, etc. What will be the queues? How to go? Thousands of checkpoints.”
A that the deal is important, but he does not want it to come at the expense of any military concessions to Moscow from Kyiv.
"For us, it is absolutely necessary. Our warehouses and elevators are full of grain. The grain of the last harvest, the grain of this harvest," Mykhailo Trokhymovych said. "But we should sign this treaty only if we do not make any military concessions to Russia."
The United States believes Russia's military is sustaining hundreds of casualties a day, a senior U.S. defense official said on Friday. The official said Washington also believed that Ukraine had destroyed more than 100 high-value Russian targets in Ukraine, including command posts and air-defense sites, Reuters reported.