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UN Chief Concerned Russia Will Quit Black Sea Grain Deal in July

UN secretary General Antonio Guterres addresses the media during a visit to the UN office in the capital Nairobi, Kenya on May 3, 2023. (AP)
UN secretary General Antonio Guterres addresses the media during a visit to the UN office in the capital Nairobi, Kenya on May 3, 2023. (AP)
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UN Chief Concerned Russia Will Quit Black Sea Grain Deal in July

UN secretary General Antonio Guterres addresses the media during a visit to the UN office in the capital Nairobi, Kenya on May 3, 2023. (AP)
UN secretary General Antonio Guterres addresses the media during a visit to the UN office in the capital Nairobi, Kenya on May 3, 2023. (AP)

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday he is concerned that Russia will on July 17 quit a deal allowing the safe wartime export of grain and fertilizers from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports.

Moscow has been threatening to walk away from the deal known as the Black Sea grain initiative - brokered by the United Nations and Türkiye in July last year - if obstacles to its own grain and fertilizer shipments are not removed.

"I am concerned and we are working hard in order to make sure that it will be possible to maintain the Black Sea initiative and at the same time that we are able to go on in our work to facilitate Russian exports," Guterres told reporters.

To convince Russia to agree to the Black Sea grain deal, a three-year memorandum of understanding was struck at the same time under which UN officials agreed to help Russia with its own food and fertilizer exports.

While Russian exports of food and fertilizer are not subject to Western sanctions imposed after the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Moscow says restrictions on payments, logistics and insurance have amounted to a barrier to shipments.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin said on Saturday that Russia "cannot be satisfied with how this memorandum is being implemented", the TASS news agency reported. He was speaking after meeting with top UN trade official Rebeca Grynspan in Geneva on Friday.

Among the demands made by Russia are the resumption of its ammonia exports via a pipeline to Ukraine's port of Pivdennyi and the reconnection of Russian Agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank) to the SWIFT international payment system.

The United Nations has helped boost Russian exports of food and fertilizers, facilitating a steady flow of ships to its ports and lower freight and insurance rates, a UN spokesman said on Friday.

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Floods Inundate Thailand's Northern Tourist City of Chiang Mai

Flooding hits the northern Thai city of Chiang Rai in the wake of Typhoon Yagi. Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP
Flooding hits the northern Thai city of Chiang Rai in the wake of Typhoon Yagi. Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP
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Floods Inundate Thailand's Northern Tourist City of Chiang Mai

Flooding hits the northern Thai city of Chiang Rai in the wake of Typhoon Yagi. Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP
Flooding hits the northern Thai city of Chiang Rai in the wake of Typhoon Yagi. Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP

Chiang Mai, Thailand's northern city popular with tourists, was inundated by widespread flooding Saturday as its main river overflowed its banks following heavy seasonal rainfall.
Authorities ordered some evacuations and said they were working to pump water out of residential areas and clear obstructions from waterways and drains to help water recede faster, The Associated Press reported.
Dozens of shelters were set up across the city to accommodate residents whose home were flooded. The Chiang Mai city government said the water level of the Ping River, which runs along the eastern edge of the city, was at critically high levels and was rising since Friday.
However, the provincial irrigation office on Saturday forecast that the water level was likely to remain stable and recede to normal in about five days.
Thai media reported that efforts to evacuate elephants and other animals from several sanctuaries and parks on the outskirts of the city were continuing Saturday. About 125 elephants along with other animals were taken to safety from the Elephant Nature Park, from where some escaped on their own to seek higher ground. About 10 animal shelters in the area have been flooded.
Chiang Mai Gov. Nirat Pongsitthavorn said that the latest flooding, the second in six weeks, exceeded expectations.
Thailand's state railway suspended service to Chiang Mai, with trains on the northern line from Bangkok terminating at Lampang, about 1 1/2 hours ride to the south. Chiang Mai International Airport said it was operating as usual on Saturday.
Flooding was reported in 20 Thai provinces on Saturday, mostly in the north. At least 49 people have died and 28 were injured in floods since August, the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation said.
In the Thai capital Bangkok, the government said Saturday it will let more water flow out of the Chao Phraya Dam in the central province of Chai Nat over the next seven days, as it risks exceeding it capacity. The release of the water may affect residents downstream who live near waterways in Thailand’s central region, including Bangkok and surrounding areas.