U.S. Urges Russia to Unblock Grain Exports

Western officials on Friday tried to coax Russia into allowing Ukraine to ship its grain out to the world as the four-month-old war threatens to deepen the global food crisis.

Reutersreports that at a meeting of G20 foreign ministers in Bali, Indonesia, global leaders confronted the Kremlin's top diplomat Sergei Lavrov.

High on their concerns was getting grain shipments from Ukraine out of封锁黑海ports.

According toreports, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Moscow to let Ukrainian grain out to the world.

“我们的俄罗斯同事:乌克兰不是你的公司untry. Its grain is not your grain. Why are you blocking the ports? You should let the grain out,” Blinken said, according to a Western diplomat in the room room who spoke on the condition of anonymity toThe Washington Post.

Romania Reopens Soviet-Era Rail Line

In relatednews fromBloomberg, Romania reopened a Soviet-era rail link connecting its Danube River port of Galati to Ukraine a month earlier than expected to help boost grain exports from Ukraine.

Romania has alreadyfacilitatedthe export of more than 1 million tons of Ukrainian grain since the war began. In a Facebookposton Thursday, Transport Minister Sorin Grindeanu said the government refitted the link connecting Galati after works by a state-owned company began in early June.

—Lisa Cleaver