US ports to help restore Ukraine’s maritime infrastructure

US allies will help Ukraine in restoring its port infrastructure, which has suffered brutal Russian attacks in the past weeks, the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority announced.

The state company has signed a "memorandum of understanding" with South Louisiana and New Orleans ports.

The memorandum confirms future cooperation of the parties in technical planning, development, construction, administration, operation, and maintenance of port infrastructure, the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority says.

Paul Matthews, the CEO of the Port of South Louisiana, says the memorandum establishes an alliance with Ukrainian partners, focusing on serving clients worldwide and fostering economic prosperity for all communities.

On 17 July, Kremlin spokesman Dmitriy Peskov announced Russia's suspension of the Black Sea grain agreement, signed in the summer of 2022, to unblock the export of Ukrainian grain.

Russia's withdrawal from the grain deal raised fears of food insecurity worldwide as prices of grain products began to rise following the agreement's collapse.

Ukraine's grain exports are vital to the world's food supply, as the country is the fifth-largest wheat exporter globally. The grain deal had allowed for nearly 33 million metric tons of food to be exported through Ukrainian ports.