BLACK SEA GRAIN DEAL (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 -– IR)

Context: Russia's Putin and Turkey's Erdogan set to meet amid efforts to repair Ukraine grain deal.

• The international efforts continue to try to patch up the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which sent grain to parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia where hunger is a growing threat.

What is the Black Sea grain deal?

• The Black Sea grain initiative was negotiated in July 2022 between Turkey, the UN and Russia as a way of ensuring that Ukraine, one of the breadbaskets of the world, could ensure that its grain could leave its southern ports via the Bosphorus.
• The initiative, allows for commercial food and fertiliser (including ammonia) exports from three key Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea – Odesa, Chornomorsk, and Pivdennyi (formerly known as Yuzhny).

Black Sea

• Located in southeastern Europe, it is a vast inland sea.
• Shares its Borders with six countries: Ukraine to the north, Russia to the northeast, Georgia to the east, Turkey to the south, Bulgaria to the southwest, and Romania to the west.
• Through the Bosporus Strait, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles Strait, it maintains a connection with the Mediterranean Sea.
• Its expanse encompasses about 436,000 square kilometers (168,000 square miles).