Day 140 of the Invasion of Ukraine: Russia may Reconsider Transiting its Gas to Europe through Ukraine

Here are the highlights of events related to the war in Ukraine over the past 24 hours:

Ukraine hopes to export 500,000 tons of grain per month through the Danube after the liberation of Snake Island

Ukraine hopes that the liberation of Snake Island from Russian troops and the start of shipping traffic on the Bystry Strait (through which the border with Romania passes) in the Danube Delta, as well as the increase of the throughput of the Sulina Strait in cooperation with the Romanians, will increase Ukrainian grain exports by 500,000 tons per month.

Ukraine's Ministry of Infrastructure announced on Tuesday that 16 ships have already passed through the Bystry Strait to three Ukrainian ports on the Danube in recent days.

At the same time, the ministry notes that the capacity of the strait is only 4 ships per day.

"We are negotiating with our Romanian colleagues and with representatives of the European Commission to increase the number of crossings through the Sulina strait. Under these conditions and the presence of a road through the Bystrii strait, we expect that within a week the traffic jams will be removed and we will be able to increase the monthly grain export of 500,000 tons," the ministry's press service quoted Deputy Minister Yuriy Vaskov.

At the same time, these half a million tons, according to the calculations of the Ministry of Infrastructure, are only 1/11 of the export capacity deficit caused by the war and the blockade of the main Ukrainian seaports. In April, for example, it was possible to export 2.5 million tons of products, the ministry said, while the monthly export requirement was 8 million tons.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said that Ukraine hopes for a...