Ukraine updates: Russia to return to grain deal if demands met

This blog is now closed. Thanks for joining us. These were the updates on the Russia-Ukraine war on Wednesday, July 19.

This blog is now closed. Thanks for joining us. These were the updates on the Russia-Ukraine war on Wednesday, July 19.

• Russian President Vladimir Putin blames Western countries for “completely distorted” the expired Black Sea grain deal but says Russia would “immediately” return to the deal if all its conditions for doing so are met.
• Yevgeny Prigozhin tells his Wagner mercenaries in Belarus that they will not fight in Ukraine and asks them to prepare for a “new journey to Africa”, a video appears to show.
• South Africa, host of this year’s BRICS summit, says Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend. A member of the International Criminal Court, the African nation would have been obligated to arrest the Russian leader for war crimes in Ukraine if he showed up.
• Ukraine accuses Russia of damaging grain export infrastructure in “hellish” overnight strikes focused on two of its Black Sea ports.
• The United Kingdom’s MI6 chief says Putin is “clearly under pressure” after last month’s Wagner Group mutiny and calls on Russians to spy for the UK.