Ukraine and Pakistan call for restoring the Black Sea grain deal after talks in Islamabad

By MUNIR AHMED
Associated Press

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The foreign ministers of Ukraine and Pakistan have called for the restoration of the Black Sea grain initiative to ensure global food security. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto Zardari voiced this demand Thursday after talks in Islamabad. The demand comes days after Russia halted a breakthrough wartime deal that allowed grain to flow from Ukraine to countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia where hunger is a growing threat and high food prices have pushed more people into poverty. Kuleba arrived in Islamabad after Russia pounded Ukraine’s port city of Odesa with drones and missiles and destroyed some of the country’s critical grain export infrastructure.