Facts about Russia-Ukraine conflict: Ukraine, EU finalize deal on road transport liberalization

BEIJING, June 15 (Xinhua) -- The following are the latest developments in the Ukraine crisis:

Ukraine and the European Union have agreed on the final text of a deal on road transport liberalization, the Ukrainian Infrastructure Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

The agreement, which is set to be signed by the end of this month, will significantly improve and speed up logistics between Ukraine and the EU, the ministry said on Facebook.

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Russia has imposed personal sanctions against 29 media representatives and 20 defense figures of Britain in a retaliatory move, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

The media representatives, including journalists working for The Guardian, BBC, and others, and the defense figures, including British Minister for Defence Procurement Jeremy Quin, would be denied entry into Russia.

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A humanitarian corridor will be opened on Wednesday to evacuate civilians in the Azot chemical plant in the strategic city of Sievierodonetsk in eastern Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry said Tuesday.

Mikhail Mizintsev, head of the Russian National Defense Control Center, said that Russian armed forces are ready to "carry out a humanitarian operation to evacuate civilians guided by humanitarian principles."

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Ukraine does not face a shortage of grain despite a projected harvest decline, the country's Agriculture Ministry said on Tuesday.

"Ukraine faces no danger of grain shortage, as it is physically impossible: production is almost five times higher than domestic consumption," the ministry said in a statement.

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The African Union (AU) said the combined aftershocks of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine conflict are "profoundly affecting" growth prospects of the African continent.

According to the AU, the combined impact is eventually leaving AU member states with little fiscal room to satisfy the needs of their population and meet their financial commitments to the AU -- the continental bloc.

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The Malta Development Bank on Tuesday launched a 150-million-euro (156 million U.S. dollars) Emergency Liquidity Support Guarantee Scheme for businesses in response to the Ukraine crisis.

In a statement, the bank said the scheme covers all impacted businesses, with specific measures designed for fuel and oil importers.