Ukraine officially calls on UN and Türkiye to influence Russia's blocking of Grain Initiative

Ukraine has called on the UN and Türkiye to demand that Russia immediately stop artificially delaying the Black Sea grain corridor and weaponizing food.

Source: Joint statement by Oleksandr Kubrakov, Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration of Ukraine and Ukraine’s Minister for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development, and Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister 

Details: "Ukraine is deeply concerned about the destructive actions of the Russian Federation, which result in the delay of the work of the Black Sea grain corridor, obstructing the Black Sea Grain Initiative in general, shipping in the Black Sea and free access of food to world markets," the statement reads.

Ukrainian officials gave a reminder that Russian inspection teams at the Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul have been systematically delaying the inspection of ships sailing through the Bosphorus to and from Ukrainian ports for several months in a row.

"Besides that, Russian inspectors are intentionally slowing down the terms of inspections. They often demand unregulated documentation, refuse to work during working hours, and look for other groundless reasons to stop the inspection. Every day only half of the planned 10 inspections take place," the ministers added.

Due to Russia's delayed inspections, a queue of more than 140 ships has formed in the Bosphorus, most of which have been waiting there for more than a month. This means that the food security of countries that depend on Ukrainian agricultural products is at risk.

"First of all, due to Russia's actions, the countries of the Global South, in particular Africa and Asia, have food shortages," the statement reads.

Moreover, by destroying Ukraine's port infrastructure, Moscow is taking advantage of the possibility of unimpeded commercial shipping from Russian Black Sea ports.

"The traffic volume through Russian seaports in the Azov and Black seas has reached more than 250 million tonnes in 2022, surpassing 2021 indicators. At the same time, inspections of these vessels in the Bosporus are not held. All that makes it possible for Russia to use its commercial vessels for receiving military goods in order to continue the war against Ukraine," the ministers noted.

"We call on the international community, in particular the UN and Türkiye as guarantors of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, to demand that the Russian Federation immediately stop the delays in the work of the Black Sea grain corridor, stop Russia’s attempts to use food as a weapon and unblock commercial navigation to the Ukrainian Black Sea ports," summarised Kubrakov and Kuleba. 

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