Turkey said the first shipment of grain had left the Odessa port as Ukraine said it was a ‘relief for the world’.
Grain deal between Russia and Ukraine
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government had helped broker the grain deal between Russia and Ukraine. It happened after months of wrangling with wheat and other grain products being stranded in Ukraine’s Black Sea port due to the war. Sierra Leone-flagged cargo ship Razoni finally set to sail.
Turkey said a ship left Odessa for Lebanon and will reach Istanbul on Tuesday. According to Ukraine authorities, the ship is carrying 26,000 tonnes of corn. United Nations chief Antonio Guterres who was present during the grain deal welcomed the move. He stated, that he hopes that it would be the “first of many commercial ships” to help the world recover from the global food security crisis.
16 additional ships are waiting their turn to leave the port: Ukrainian Ministry
Ukraine had said 20 thousand tonnes of grain worth $10 billion was piled up in Black Sea ports amid Russia’s blockade of the sea. President Volodymyr Zelensky had put the onus on the UN to ensure grain safety as Russia hit the Odessa port with a missile after concluding the deal angering Kyiv.
Ukraine had said the grain would be uploaded on several ships as President Zelensky himself is taking care of the operations. Moreover, Russia has continued to target Ukrainian cities despite the grain deal with heavy bombing. The incidents of bombing have been reported in Kherson and other areas in the east and south. Ukraine’s President over the weekend had urged civilians to leave the Donetsk region as Russian forces made gains in the area.
Equally important, it was since late February that shipments from Ukraine have been blocked from leaving the country’s ports by Russia. Being one of the world’s biggest grain producers, the blockade sparked fears of a global food crisis as prices shot up.