Ukrainian President Zelenskyy responded to Russia’s statement of termination of the Grain Deal. He noted that the foreign ministry would ask Turkey and the UN if they were ready to keep the initiative working.
According to Suspilne, Zelenskyy’s response was reported by the president’s spokesperson, Serhii Nykyforov.
According to Zelenskyy, ship owners are ready to maintain the supply of grain if Ukraine and Turkey ensure the passage of ships.
Earlier, we reported that on July 17, Russian officials declared that the Grain Deal had been terminated. It lasted two months. Russia is ready to proceed with the deal if sanctions are relieved, in particular, if Russia’s Rosselkhozbank is reconnected to Swift.
The deal has enabled the safe exportation of around 30 million tons of grain since it was signed in July 2022. This helped lower global food prices, which surged to record highs after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Among the major destinations for Ukrainian grain are China and Spain.
The shipping of grain through the Black Sea was impeded by continual interruptions in the joint inspection of ships. The promptness of these inspections will be crucial to Ukraine's ability to sell the wheat harvested since July.
However, even after the deal was extended, Russia repeatedly violated it by deliberately delaying the inspection of ships sailing to Ukrainian seaports.
Ukraine can still resort to using Danube shipping as an alternative to the Grain Deal. During the first half of 2023, Danube ports located on the Ukrainian bank reloaded more than 14 tons of cargo. Ukrainian grain is also transported to Europe by rail.
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