The passage of civil vessels through the Black Sea corridor organised by Kyiv has nothing to do with resuming the grain initiative.

Source: Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of Russian President Vladimir Putin, cited by the Russian agency Interfax

At the briefing, Peskov was asked to comment on the information that on 27 August the second vessel since the suspension of the grain deal went out to sea from the corridor in the Black Sea organised by Kyiv. He was also asked whether this could potentially lead to resuming the grain deal.

Peskov ignored the first part of the question and concentrated on the other part.

"No, this has nothing to do with prospects for resuming the grain deal," he replied. "The prospect of resuming the grain deal directly depends on fulfilling promises made to the Russian side in deeds, not in words."

"This is a completely different substance, and our military is of course monitoring the situation," Peskov added.

Background: The last vessel with Ukrainian foodstuff left the Odesa port on 16 July.

On 17 July, Russia unilaterally withdrew from the Black Sea Grain Initiative and then numerous times attacked the Ukrainian port grain infrastructure.

On 10 August, Ukraine announced the opening of temporary corridors in the Black Sea for merchant ships headed to and from the Ukrainian ports.

The first vessel to use the Ukrainian Black Sea corridor after Russia’s withdrawal from the grain deal was the Joseph Schult vessel. It crossed the Turkish Bosporus Strait under the Hong Kong flag and arrived in Istanbul.

The second vessel that left the Odesa port after the grain deal was suspended was the Primus bulk carrier under the Liberian flag that went in the direction of the Bulgarian port of Varna. The route was built strictly through the territorial waters of Romania and Bulgaria.

Curiously, the vessel entered the Odesa port back on 20 February 2022, under the name Polarstar and changed its name during the waiting time. The owner has most likely also changed.

Earlier, Russia announced its intention to inspect all vessels in the waters of the Black Sea.

Specifically, on 19 July, the Ministry of Defence of Russia announced that all vessels headed to the Ukrainian ports after midnight of 20 July, no matter the flag, would be considered by Russia to be involved in the military conflict.

Russia also claimed that the suspension of the grain deal also meant the withdrawal of the navigation safety guarantees.

In response, the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine published a statement with a warning that all the vessels that will be headed to the Russian ports or occupied Ukrainian ports from 21 July may be considered those that carry military cargoe.

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