Three grain ships left Ukrainian ports on Friday, while the first inbound cargo vessel since Russia’s invasion was scheduled to arrive, as Kyiv demanded that the safe passage agreement be extended to other goods such as metals.
The July 22 agreement was a rare diplomatic breakthrough in the midst of a war in eastern Ukraine, with Kyiv attempting to reconstruct its devastated economy after more than five months of warfare.
‘We want our colleagues from the United Nations and Turkey to continue to provide security assurances, and food exports from our ports to become reliable and predictable for all market participants,’ Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov wrote on Facebook after the ships left.
On Monday, the first grain ship sailed from Odesa.
‘This deal is about logistics, about the transit of vessels via the Black Sea,’ said Taras Kachka, Ukraine’s Deputy Economy Minister, to the Financial Times. ‘What is the distinction between grain and iron ore?’
Post Your Comments