President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told the Aspen Security Forum that Ukraine’s counteroffensive is on the way to “gaining momentum” as troops painstakingly clear territories extensively mined by Kremlin forces. “We are approaching a moment when relevant actions can gain pace,” Zelenskiy said in a video address on Friday. Ground operations continue in at least three areas, with Kyiv’s forces said to be making small advances. Russia again attacked southeastern Ukraine with Iranian “Shahed” drones early Saturday, with all five UAVs shot down, Ukrainian General staff said.
Zelenskiy spoke late Friday with Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan as he looks for ways to restart grain shipments after Moscow withdrew from the Black Sea safe-transit agreement. “The parties coordinated efforts to restore the operation” of the initiative, Zelenskiy’s office said on its website. Turkey hasn’t commented. The US wants Erdogan’s government, which brokered the original deal along with the UN, to again play a “leadership role” in helping prod Russia back into the agreement, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday.
Russia’s deputy foreign minister seemed to walk back rhetoric from earlier in the week that Moscow would consider civilian ships heading to Ukrainian ports as legitimate military targets. The Kremlin’s actions this week suggest it’s looking for a way to “renegotiate the grain deal on conditions more favorable to Russia,” said analysts at the US-based Institute for the Study of War. “Russia is engaging in efforts to further remove itself from the grain deal, although in ways that it could easily reverse.”
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Coming Up
- Sunday meeting between Putin and Belarus’ Lukashenko
- Russia’s invasion hits 17-month mark on Monday
Markets
Wheat Slumps as Traders Shrug Off Ukraine Angst
Wheat futures fell more than 4% on Friday, taking a breather after surging about 11% over three days as traders focused on ample global supplies even amid continued tensions in the Black Sea.
Both Ukraine and Russia warned this week that ships headed to each other’s ports could be considered military targets, setting off alarm bells. Friday’s comments by Russia’s deputy foreign minister suggested the worst of the worries were overblown.
