capitals (agencies)
Yesterday, the Russian ambassador to Turkey, Alexey Erkhov, said that Russia is discussing with its partners alternatives to the Black Sea initiative to deliver foodstuffs to countries in need, while Kiev announced the departure of the first cargo ship from the port of Odessa, overlooking the Black Sea, through a new shipping lane.
“The Black Sea Initiative is no longer a magic solution to meet the food needs of Africa and other countries. There are alternatives, and they are being actively discussed through contacts with our partners,” the Russian diplomat said, according to local media. Irkhov added, “It is Russia that contributes a huge amount to ensuring global food security,” adding that “after implementing the Russian requirements, it will be possible to talk about resuming the Black Sea initiative.”
Russia withdrew from the grain agreement on the seventeenth of last July, after it entered into it in the same month of last year, under the mediation of Turkey and the United Nations, allowing ships loaded with grain to pass through a corridor in the Black Sea with a length of 310 nautical miles and a width of three miles.
In a related context, the first cargo ship left the port city of Odessa on the Black Sea through a new shipping lane established by Kiev, according to what a Ukrainian minister announced yesterday.
“The container carrier Josef Schulte has left the port of Odessa and is sailing through the temporary corridor established for civilian ships,” said the Minister in charge of Infrastructure Affairs, Oleksandr Kubrakov.
Last week, Ukraine announced the opening of a “humanitarian corridor” in the Black Sea to allow the passage of cargo ships stuck in its ports since the start of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis on February 24, 2022.
The ship operator, Brainhard Schulte, said the Josef Schulte left the Ukrainian port of Odessa on its way to Istanbul in Turkey.
And it added, in a statement, that the ship is using the passage that was opened “to allow safe passage for ships heading south,” and will pass through the territorial waters of Ukraine, Romania and Turkey.
And on August 12, Kiev announced the opening of registration for commercial ships ready to sail in these ways, “under the supervision of the Ukrainian Armed Forces,” which will ensure their safety.
In addition, Brigitte Brink, the US ambassador to Kiev, said that Washington provided 50 vehicles to transport grain to Ukraine, to help Kiev establish alternative ways to export grain.
The United States is in talks with Turkey, Ukraine and other countries in Eastern Europe to create alternative routes to export Ukrainian grain after the “grain deal” ends, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier, citing officials.
Brink wrote on the “X” network (former Twitter): “This week, we delivered 50 wagons to the Ukrainian company Nepolon to transport grain through the US Agency for International Development, to help transport grain to the ports of the Danube River, to be sent from there to global markets.” With this step, the ambassador added, the United States enables Ukraine to “establish and expand alternative export routes,” and also helps “stabilize global grain prices” and “feed the most vulnerable populations.”
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