- Grain carrier from Ukraine inspected in Turkey
- Ship bound for Lebanon crossing the Bosphorus
- The shipment is the first species to leave Ukraine in times of war
- But the Ukrainian leader says much more is needed
- Kyiv urgently needs to send 10 million tons to reduce deficit
Kyiv/ISTANBUL, Aug 3 (Reuters) – Ukraine’s President Volodymr Zelenskyy dismissed the importance of his country’s first grain export shipment since the Russian invasion, saying it carried a fraction of the crop that Kyiv must sell to save its shattered contribute to the economy.
His dejected comments, which were videoed to students in Australia on Wednesday, came as an inspection of the ship was completed in Turkey before it was en route to Lebanon under a deal to alleviate a global food crisis by the Bosphorus road drove. Continue reading
The Razoni ship left Odessa on the Black Sea early Monday, transporting 26,527 tons of corn to the Lebanese port of Tripoli. It followed a UN-brokered grain and fertilizer export deal between Moscow and Kyiv last month — a rare diplomatic breakthrough in a protracted war of attrition.
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But Zelenskyy, speaking through an interpreter, said more time was needed to see if more grain shipments would follow.
“Just recently, thanks to the UN in partnership with Turkey, we had a first ship delivering grain, but it’s still nothing. But we hope it’s a trend that continues,” he told the students.
He said Ukraine, one of the world’s top grain producers before the war, must export at least 10 million tons of grain to urgently help cut its $5 billion-a-month budget deficit.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken welcomed the grain shipment but also said it was “only a first step”.
A senior Turkish official said three ships could leave Ukrainian ports daily after the Razoni’s departure, while Ukraine’s infrastructure minister said 17 other ships had been loaded with agricultural products and were waiting to set sail.
Known as the breadbasket of Europe, Ukraine hopes to export 20 million tons of grain stored in silos and 40 million tons from the now-undergoing harvest, initially from Odessa and nearby Pivdennyi and Chornomorsk.
“The war… is almost killing the economy. She’s in a coma,” said Zelenskyy. “Russia’s port lockdown is a major loss to the economy.”
The Sierra Leonean-flagged cargo ship Razoni, transporting Ukrainian grain, is seen in the Black Sea off Kilyos near Istanbul, Turkey August 2, 2022. REUTERS/Yoruk Isik
Zelenskyy has repeatedly warned that despite signing the deal last month, Moscow may try to hamper exports.
PUTIN AND SCHROEDER
Russia, which blocked ports after launching its “special military operation” on February 24, said it wants to see more done to facilitate the export of its own grain and fertilizer.
It has denied responsibility for the food crisis, saying sanctions from the West, which sees the war as an unprovoked Russian imperial-style land grab, have slowed its exports.
Russia also said the United States was directly implicated in the conflict in Ukraine because US spies authorized and coordinated Ukrainian missile attacks on Russian forces. Continue reading
US President Joe Biden has said he wants Ukraine to defeat Russia and has shipped billions of dollars worth of weapons to Kyiv, but US officials do not want a direct confrontation between US and Russian soldiers.
Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, a friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said the grain deal could offer a way out of the conflict.
“The good news is that the Kremlin wants a negotiated solution,” Schröder told Stern and RTL/ntv on Wednesday. He said he met Putin in Moscow last week.
“One of the first successes is the grain deal, maybe that can slowly be expanded into a ceasefire.” Continue reading
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin also told Schroeder that the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is theoretically ready to be used to increase gas supplies to Europe.
Germany and some other European countries are planning a winter supply crisis after Moscow halted gas supplies through another pipeline, the Nord Stream 1, citing technical problems with gas turbines supplied by Siemens Energy. Continue reading
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Reporting by Reuters bureaus; writing by Andrew Osborn and Nick Macfie; Edited by Andrew Cawthorne and Angus MacSwan
Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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