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America's ambassador to NATO on Putin, dues, and grain deals

(Photo by OLEKSANDR GIMANOV / AFP) (Photo by OLEKSANDR GIMANOV/AFP via Getty Images)
(Photo by OLEKSANDR GIMANOV / AFP) (Photo by OLEKSANDR GIMANOV/AFP via Getty Images)

Russia is suspending its participation in an international deal that had allowed the export of grain from Ukrainian Black Sea ports it has been blockading.

That has many worried about global food security. The Kremlin says the accord, brokered last year by Turkey, no longer met its conditions.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called Russia’s decision “blackmail,” adding that “no one has the right to destroy the food security of any nation.”

Overnight, Ukrainian forces shot down scores of exploding drones and six cruise missiles during a pre-dawn Russian attack on the port of Odesa.

This latest attack came days after President Biden claimed Russia’s President Putin had “already lost the war.”

We speak to the U.S. ambassador to NATO, Julianne Smith.

 

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