Russia is not complying with the conditions outlined in the grain deal, a Black Sea initiative adopted to allow Ukraine to export its agricultural produce to global food markets, US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller told a briefing.
“The parties agreed to enable unimpeded exports of Ukrainian food from three ports. Now Russia is refusing to allow ships to one of those three. It is a clear violation of their commitments under the Black Sea Grain Initiative,” he said.
Washington urged Moscow “to stop holding global food supplies hostage”.
Reuters reports, citing Ukrainian official Yuriy Vaskov that Ukraine also accuses Russia of a “gross violation” of the deal.
According to him, all ships are inspected by a joint team of experts from Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, and the UN. Meanwhile, Russian inspectors have been refusing to check any vessels heading to the Pivdennyi Port since 29 April.
“They [Russia] have now found an effective way to significantly reduce [Ukrainian] grain exports by excluding the port of Pivdennyi, which handles large tonnage vessels, from the initiative,” Vaskov noted.
On 17 May, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced that the grain deal would be extended by two months.
“Moreover, our Russian friends said that they would not obstruct the passage of Ukrainian ships leaving [Ukraine’s] seaports of Mykolaiv and Olvia,” he added.
The Turkish leader thanked his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky as well as UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres for “the efforts made” to achieve that.
