Three months after the establishment of a grain agreement between Ukraine and Russia under the aegis of Turkey and the UN, tensions are resurging as Russia threatens not to renew this agreement.
Ukraine on Monday (October 24th) accused Russia of deliberately delaying more than 165 ships destined for the transport of grain by prolonging inspections carried out in accordance with an agreement reached on these crucial deliveries for many countries in Africa and Asia.
“Since October 14, 2022, Russian inspectors assigned to the Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul have significantly extended the inspection of vessels heading to Ukrainian ports to receive grain or which have already been loaded and are on their way to their final destination.“, lamented the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a press release.
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“As a result, more than 165 ships are stuck in a queue near the Bosphorus Strait, and this number continues to increase every day.“, he added, denouncing delays “politically motivated“.
According to the Ukrainian ministry, the delays concern three million tonnes of grain intended to supply 10 million people. He accused Moscow ofundermine global food securityand called on the international community to put pressure on Moscow.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had already accused Russia on Friday of delaying “deliberately» passing ships. According to him, China, Egypt, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Iraq, Lebanon or the Maghreb countries are among the states affected by these delays.
Russia and Ukraine had agreed in July to resume Ukrainian grain exports, halted since the start of the war in late February, after a UN-sponsored deal with Turkey. Russia later criticized the deal, saying its own exports were hampered by the sanctions.