Russia welcomes start of Ukraine grain exports

Russia has welcomed the first shipment of grain from the port of Odessa on Ukraine's Black Sea coast as a "positive" development.
"This is a good opportunity for testing the effectiveness of the functioning of mechanisms that were agreed during the negotiations in Istanbul," Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said, according to the Interfax news agency.
"We hope that the agreements will be fulfilled by all sides and that the mechanisms function effectively," Peskov said.
The Razoni freighter carrying a cargo of 26,000 tons of maize under a Sierra Leone flag is headed for Lebanon. It is scheduled to make a stop at Istanbul on Tuesday where it will undergo inspection.