Daily News Brief

March 14, 2023

Top of the Agenda

The United Nations and Turkey mediated a second day of talks (Reuters) today to try to extend a deal under which Russia allows Ukraine to export grain and other food products from its ports in the Black Sea. Moscow said it would allow a sixty-day renewal (Bloomberg) of the deal, which Kyiv rejected (Bloomberg) on grounds that the broader agreement allows for extensions of at least 120 days. 

The deal signed in July 2022 has brought down global food prices that had spiked to record highs following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the deal does not address Russia’s concerns that Western sanctions have indirectly hurt its agriculture exports. Grain futures have fluctuated amid conflicting reports of an extension, and wheat importers in the Middle East and North Africa are stocking up on the crop ahead of the deal’s potential expiration.

Analysis

“The Black Sea Grain Initiative has been a rare example of cooperation between the warring countries,” the New York Times’ Nick Cumming-Bruce and Matthew Mpoke Bigg write.

“Ukraine is still moving grain by rail, road and river—routes turned to when its Black Sea terminals were blocked at the start of the war. It will keep using those avenues if Black Sea trade gets disrupted, but they can’t handle all flows and are a costly alternative,” Bloomberg’s Megan Durisin and Aine Quinn write.

This In Brief discusses how Russia’s war in Ukraine is increasing food insecurity in regions such as the Middle East and North Africa.

Pacific Rim

During a meeting in California, the leaders of the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom (UK)—which compose the AUKUS security pact—announced that Washington will supply Canberra (FT) with nuclear-powered submarines beginning in 2027. New submarines produced mostly in Australia will enter service in the early 2040s, the leaders said.

China: The country will resume issuing all types of visas (SCMP) beginning tomorrow as the government slowly lifts pandemic restrictions.

South and Central Asia

A junta spokesperson blamed pro-democracy fighters (AP) and an ethnic minority militia for killing more than twenty civilians whose bodies were found in a village in the eastern state of Shan. The pro-democracy fighters blamed junta forces. 

CFR’s Joshua Kurlantzick explains how Myanmar’s civil war has imperiled the military government and squashed hopes for a democratic transition.

India: The government plans to require smartphone makers to allow preinstalled apps to be removed, Reuters reported. Some phones come with apps that can’t be uninstalled, which officials view as a security risk. Chinese-made phones have faced the most scrutiny.

Middle East and North Africa

Neither foreign donors nor the Syrian government did enough to deliver aid (UN News) to Syria in the wake of last month’s earthquakes, a UN-backed commission said. It called for a formal probe into the response to the disaster, which killed over seven thousand people in Syria and tens of thousands more in Turkey.

Iran: The head of the judiciary said Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, pardoned (AP) more than twenty-two thousand people who had been arrested during anti-government protests in recent months.

Sub-Saharan Africa

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken aims to reset U.S.-Ethiopia relations (WaPo), which have worsened over U.S. accusations of war crimes committed in Ethiopia’s Tigray region. He will meet with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Tigrayan rebel leaders to discuss implementation of the two sides’ November peace deal. 

For Foreign Affairs, CFR’s Michelle Gavin discusses how the U.S. approach to Ethiopia should change in light of the peace deal.

South Africa: A court ordered health-care workers (News24) and other essential employees to end their strike for higher wages.

Europe

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the increase is needed to fund the AUKUS submarine partnership (BBC), send weapons to Ukraine, and improve the UK’s arms-manufacturing capabilities.

Americas

The victims were killed by flooding in Peru’s north (Reuters) caused by Cyclone Yaku. 

Colombia: President Gustavo Petro accused (AFP) the Gulf Clan criminal group of breaking a cease-fire with the government by supporting illegal gold miners’ attacks on infrastructure.

CFR’s Will Freeman unpacks Petro’s big ambitions for peace in Colombia.

United States

Climate advocates have opposed the Willow project (CNN), which is expected to generate as much pollution as adding two million gas-powered cars to the roads.

Council on Foreign Relations

58 East 68th Street — New York, NY 10065

1777 F Street, NW — Washington, DC 20006

Shop the CFR Store

Forward This Email

Manage Your Email Preferences