Oleksandr Kubrakov, Ukraine’s Infrastructure Minister, has announced via Twitter that the grain shipping corridor is expected to resume operation on 3 November.
“On Thursday, November 3rd, 8 vessels with agricultural products are expected to pass through the grain corridor. We got confirmation from the @UN,” he tweeted.
Kubrakov also added that grain-loaded ships would be inspected in the Bosphorus on 2 November.
Amir Abdullah, the UN official who coordinates the Black Sea Grain Initiative, is also hopeful that the navigation can resume on 3 November.
“Exports of grain and foodstuffs from#Ukraine️ need to continue. Although no movements of vessels are planned for 2 November under the#BlackSeaGrainInitiative, we expect loaded ships to sail on Thursday,” he tweeted.
The UN said on 31 October that no ships will pass along the grain corridor in the Black Sea on Wednesday, 2 November. The agency then added that it was temporary. The Turkish defence ministry also stressed that the country would continue to ship agricultural produce out of the country despite Russia’s withdrawal from the grain initiative.
Representatives of Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, and the UN signed an agreement regarding the exports of Ukraine’s grain via the Black Sea on 22 July. The sides agreed to create a safe naval corridor for commercial vessels to sail across from Ukrainian ports of Odesa, Chornomorsk, and Yuzhne. On 29 October, Russia withdrew from the grain deal, blaming the “massive strike” carried out with drones on ships and infrastructure of the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol.
On 24 October, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russia had asked the United Nations for data on the destinations of grain shipments as it was “not certain about the end recipient”. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that further use of the humanitarian corridors for grain export from Ukraine would be called into question if it turned out that they were used for “terrorist attacks”.
Despite that, Ukraine, Turkey, and the UN agreed on a 31 October movement plan for 16 vessels that would sail across the humanitarian corridor. They informed Russia of that decision. Later, Russia’s Ministry of Defence announced that Russia was suspending ship traffic across the grain corridor.
