Under NATO jets' watch, three foreign ships entered a Ukrainian port 

This is reported by Forbes USA.

It is noted that three cargo ships belonging to Greek, Israeli, and Turkish-Georgian companies arrived at one of the Ukrainian grain terminals in the port of Izmail in the Danube Delta. They were the first foreign vessels to arrive at Ukrainian ports after Russia withdrew from the grain deal.

According to Forbes, the Greek and Israeli vessels were sailing toward the port of Izmail from the Bosphorus, while the Turkish-Georgian vessel was sailing from northern Turkey. They were sailing with their transponders on, making no secret of their course.

The ships were observed by four NATO reconnaissance aircraft: a US Navy P-8 patrol plane, a military Challenger with surface scanning radar, a US Air Force RQ-4 drone, and a NATO E-3 early warning aircraft.

According to journalists, the aircraft were not armed, but NATO fighters, including Italian Eurofighters and Romanian F-16s, were on duty in Romania at the time.

Reports that the three civilian vessels reached Ukraine unimpeded may indicate that Russia is either unwilling or unable to search the ships at this time, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW). 

Forbes emphasizes that the ships that arrived at the Ukrainian port will be loaded with grain, after which they will return along the same route. 

Russia's termination of the grain deal

On July 16, the last ship loaded with Ukrainian agricultural products under the initiative left the port of Odesa. On 17 July, Russia announced the termination of the grain deal. In response, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that it was necessary to continue using the grain corridor even despite Russia's withdrawal from the agreement. And Kuleba began urgent consultations at the UN.

The White House condemned Russia's withdrawal from the grain deal, which played a crucial role in reducing global food prices.

On 18 July, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there were "certain risks" for parties trying to resume the Black Sea Grain Initiative without Russia's participation.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that it was critical to restore transport links across the Black Sea to provide food to the world's most vulnerable countries and to preserve the ability to export Ukrainian goods.

On 19 July, it was reported that Ukraine was considering transporting food as part of the grain initiative through the territorial waters of Bulgaria and neighbouring Romania.

At the same time, the Russian Ministry of Defence issued a statement threatening ships heading to Ukraine's Black Sea ports. On the same day, Putin named the conditions for Russia's return to the grain deal and demanded their immediate implementation

The EU's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said that the only response to Russia's threats to fire on Ukrainian grain ships could be to increase military aid to Ukraine.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense announced that starting July 21, all ships heading to the Black Sea in the direction of Russian seaports and Ukrainian ports in the temporarily occupied territory may be treated by Ukraine as military cargo.

On July 21, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he wanted to discuss the extension of the grain deal with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and expressed confidence that it will work again.

The same day, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed hope that Turkey will help bring Russia back to the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which it disrupted earlier in the week.

On July 22, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg with a proposal to immediately convene the NATO-Ukraine Council due to the security crisis in the Black Sea.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote about his conversation with Stoltenberg on Telegram. Zelenskyy and Stoltenberg discussed the implementation of the agreements reached during the Vilnius Summit of the Alliance, as well as further steps towards Ukraine's integration into NATO.

On July 25, the Main Intelligence Directorate released a report to the Russian leadership, which outlined the technologies used by the Russian forces to prevent the export of Ukrainian grain, indicating a deliberate disruption of the grain deal.

On July 25, the GUR released a report to the Russian leadership, which outlined the technologies used to prevent grain exports from Ukraine, indicating that the "grain deal" was deliberately disrupted.

On the same day, the US State Department, amid the shelling of Odesa and the Danube infrastructure, said that Russia was preparing a false flag operation in the Black Sea on a ship in international waters.

On July 25, Russia laid additional sea mines on the approaches to Ukrainian ports in order to blow up civilian vessels and later blame Ukraine.

On July 26, the UK Defense Ministry reported that Russia had deployed a modern corvette, the Sergei Kotov, in the southern Black Sea to intercept merchant ships at sea. It is patrolling the transportation route between the Bosporus and Odesa.

Later, it became known that Russia was preparing aircraft and ships to block the Black Sea, detect and destroy ships.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that after unilaterally withdrawing from the Black Sea Grain Initiative, Russia is ready to replace Ukrainian grain and start supplying its own grain to African countries free of charge.

On July 30, during the Sunday Angelus prayer at the Vatican, Pope Francis called on the Russian side to renew the Black Sea Grain Agreement, which allowed Ukraine to safely transport grain. Later, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that he considered the Pope's call to Russia important.