World News for Students of English

05-08-2022 07:00

After months of a blockade, Ukraine has finally begun to ship grain again out of its Black Sea ports, and people hope that the activity will ease global food shortages.

According to Ukrainian and Turkish officials, the first grain cargo vessel sailed from the port of Odessa to Lebanon under a safe passage agreement. Russia has blockaded Ukrainian ports since February; however, the two countries decided to resume shipments. Under the deal, Russia has agreed not to target ports while the shipments are in transit.

Russia and Ukraine grow nearly a third of the world’s grain exports, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine worsened the global food crisis. In past years, Ukraine also produced 16% of the world’s corn and 42% of sunflower oil. The blockade of Ukraine’s grain increased prices of wheat-based products like bread and pasta, cooking oil, and fertilizer.

Difficult words: blockade (to halt the movement of people and goods into or out of a county), safe passage agreement (a deal to give official protection to pass through a dangerous area), in transit (to carry people or things from one place to another).

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