ODESSA, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited a Black Sea port Friday to watch crews prepare to export grain caught up in Russia’s five-month war, a week after it reached an agreement to allow critical food supplies to flow to millions of people. of impoverished people facing hunger around the world.
“The first ship, the first ship is being loaded since the beginning of the war,” Zelenskyy, wearing an olive-colored T-shirt, told reporters as he stood next to a Turkish-flagged ship in the port of Chernomorsk in the Odesa region. .
He said the export of wheat and other grains will begin with ships that were already loaded but could not leave Ukrainian ports after Russia invaded in late February.
Ukraine is a key global exporter of wheat, barley, corn and sunflower oil, and its loss has raised global food prices, threatened political instability and helped push more people into poverty and famine in already vulnerable countries.
Ukraine’s military is committed to the security of ships, Zelenskyy said, adding: “It is important for us that Ukraine remains the guarantor of world food security.”
His unannounced visit to the port is part of Ukraine’s push to show the world it is almost ready to export millions of tonnes of grains under last week’s advanced deals, which were brokered by Turkey and the United Nations and signed separately by Ukraine and Russia.
The parties agreed to facilitate the shipment of wheat and other grains from three Ukrainian ports through secure Black Sea corridors, as well as fertilizers and food from Russia.
But a Russian missile attack in Odesa hours after the deal was signed cast doubt on Moscow’s commitment and raised concerns about the safety of shipping crews, who must also navigate waters littered with explosive mines.
Russia’s deputy ambassador to the UN, Dmitri Polyansky, told the UN Security Council in New York on Friday that Ukraine has been deploying military goods and hardware to the port of Odesa, “and we will continue to destroy these goods and objects, as we did on July 23.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov highlighted the “link between removing grain from Ukrainian ports and unblocking direct or indirect restrictions on the export of our grain, fertilizers and other products to global markets.”
Security concerns and deal complexities have led to a slow and cautious start. The clock is ticking: the offer is only good for 120 days.
The goal over the next four months is to export about 20 million tons of grain from three Ukrainian seaports blocked since the February 24 invasion. This provides time for about four or five large bulk carriers per day to transport grain from ports to millions of people in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, who are already facing food shortages and, in some cases, the hunger
Getting the grain out is also critical for Ukraine’s farmers, who are running out of storage capacity due to a new crop.
“We are ready,” Ukraine’s Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov told reporters at the port of Odesa on Friday.
But he said Ukraine is waiting for the UN to confirm the safe passages the ships will use. Meanwhile, a ship in the port of Chernomorsk was being loaded with grain, he said.
Lloyd’s List, a global publisher of shipping news, noted that while UN officials are pushing for this week’s initial voyage to show progress, uncertainty over key details will likely prevent an immediate increase in shipments
“Until these logistical issues and detailed outlines of safeguarding procedures are aired, charters will not be agreed and insurers will not underwrite the shipments,” wrote Lloyd’s List’s Bridget Diakun and Richard Meade.
They note, however, that United Nations agencies, such as the World Food Program, have already agreed to lease much of the grain for urgent humanitarian needs.
Shipping companies have not rushed in because explosive mines are drifting in the waters, shipowners are assessing the risks and many are wondering how the deal will play out.
The agreement stipulates that Russia and Ukraine provide “maximum guarantees” for ships facing the journey to the Ukrainian ports of Odesa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny.
Smaller Ukrainian pilot boats will guide the ships through the approved corridors. The entire operation will be overseen by a Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul made up of officials from Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations.
Once the ships arrive in port, they will be loaded with grain before returning to the Bosphorus Strait, where they will embark to be inspected for weapons. There will likely also be inspections for ships embarking in Ukraine.
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Aya Batrawy, Associated Press editor, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey; and Edith M. Lederer of the United Nations contributed to this report.