FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: Commercial vessels including vessels which are part of Black Sea grain deal wait to pass the Bosphorus strait off the shores of Yenikapi during a misty morning in Istanbul, Turkey, October 31, 2022.
FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: Commercial vessels including vessels which are part of Black Sea grain deal wait to pass the Bosphorus strait off the shores of Yenikapi during a misty morning in Istanbul, Turkey, October 31, 2022. REUTERS/Umit Bektas/File Photo
Russia

Russia-Ukraine tensions rise: Grain deal at risk

Former Russian President that if the G7 moved to ban exports to Russia, it would respond by terminating the Black Sea grain deal.
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(Reuters) - Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said that if the G7 moved to ban exports to Russia, it would respond by terminating the Black Sea grain deal that enables vital exports of food from Ukraine. Russia has strongly signalled that it will not allow the deal to continue beyond May 18.

GRAIN DEAL

* The Group of Seven (G7) economic powers called on Sunday for the "extension, full implementation and expansion" of the grain deal.

* A first batch of Russian fertilizer that Latvia seized last year is being shipped to Kenya by the U.N. World Food Programme, Latvia's foreign ministry said. Russia has cited the seizure as a key stumbling block to its continued participation in the grains deal.

DIPLOMACY

* Russia said it was expelling more than 20 German diplomats in a tit-for-tat move. Germany did not immediately confirm any expulsions of its own but said the arrival of a Russian government plane in Berlin was connected to the issue.

* France and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania expressed dismay after China's ambassador to France questioned the sovereignty of former Soviet countries like Ukraine.

A view shows a residential building damaged by shelling in the town of Chasiv Yar, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near a front line in Donetsk region, Ukraine April 22, 2023.
A view shows a residential building damaged by shelling in the town of Chasiv Yar, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near a front line in Donetsk region, Ukraine April 22, 2023. REUTERS/Sofiia Gatilova

DIPLOMACY

* Russia said it was expelling more than 20 German diplomats in a tit-for-tat move. Germany did not immediately confirm any expulsions of its own but said the arrival of a Russian government plane in Berlin was connected to the issue.

* France and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania expressed dismay after China's ambassador to France questioned the sovereignty of former Soviet countries like Ukraine.

A view shows a residential house damaged by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the village of Kotliary outside of Kharkiv, Ukraine April 23, 2023.
A view shows a residential house damaged by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the village of Kotliary outside of Kharkiv, Ukraine April 23, 2023. REUTERS/Yevhen Titov

FIGHTING

* Russia's Black Sea Fleet repelled a drone attack on the Crimean port of Sevastopol early on Monday, the Moscow-installed governor of the city said through social media.

* Russia said its forces had advanced in Bakhmut while a top Ukrainian commander said his troops were holding the frontline through the city.

Ukrainian servicemen pull a damaged pick-up car by a BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicle in the town of Chasiv Yar, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near a front line in Donetsk region, Ukraine April 22, 2023.
Ukrainian servicemen pull a damaged pick-up car by a BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicle in the town of Chasiv Yar, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near a front line in Donetsk region, Ukraine April 22, 2023. REUTERS/Sofiia Gatilova

ECONOMY

* Global military spending rose to a record last year as Russia's war drove the biggest annual increase in expenditure in Europe since the end of the Cold War three decades ago, a prominent conflict and armaments think tank said.

* Russia's richest people have added $152 billion to their wealth over the past year, helped by high prices for natural resources - rebounding from the huge losses they experienced after the start of the war in Ukraine, Forbes Russia said.

RUSSIAN OFFICIAL'S SON

* The son of Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesperson said in an interview that he had served in Ukraine under an assumed name as an artilleryman in the Wagner mercenary force, the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper reported.

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(Compiled by Reuters editors)

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