Russia is again sabotaging the work of the Black Sea Grain Corridor

During April 26, the work of the Black Sea Grain Corridor was once again suspended due to sabotage by the Russian side. The Navy of Ukraine announced this on its official Facebook page.

According to the report, on April 25, representatives of the Russian Federation in the Joint Coordination Center (Istanbul) refused to agree on the movement of ships to and from the seaports of Ukraine through the humanitarian corridor operating within the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

"As a result, today 4 vessels, including the vessel AKDENIZ-M, which was chartered by the World Food Program of the United Nations to deliver wheat to Ethiopia, could not leave the ports of Chornomorsk, Odesa and Pivdenny and had to wait for additional time for their passage to be approved. Also, one ship is waiting for passage to the port of Odesa in the area of Sulina," the message of the Navy said.

We will remind: "Grain Initiative" is an agreement between Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the UN on the organization of a safe sea corridor for agricultural cargo from Ukraine. It was signed in Istanbul on July 22, 2022. According to the document, exports take place from three Ukrainian ports — Odesa, Chornomorsk and Pivdenny. The work of the "grain corridor" within the framework of the agreement is regulated by two agreements, which are essentially "mirrors". One of them was signed between Ukraine, the UN and Turkey, the other between the Russian Federation, the UN and Turkey.

In March, the Russian Federation demanded the fulfillment of additional conditions for the continuation of the Black Sea initiative. Moscow said it agreed to extend the agreement beyond March 18 for 60 days, although the document itself stated that it should be automatically extended for 120 days if Ukrainian ports remained blocked. There are no changes in the nomenclature of cargo, the number of ports and inspections. On March 18, all parties, including the Russian Federation, Turkey, Ukraine and the UN, decided to extend the agreement. The fact of the extension of the agreement was confirmed by the representatives of the UN, as well as the President of Turkey Erdogan, but they did not name the term of the extension of the document.

It should be noted that the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, discussed the situation surrounding the grain agreement with the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, by phone.

As reported by a number of media with reference to TRT Haber publication, during the conversation they discussed the Russian-Ukrainian war and the possibility of extending the grain agreement.