Ukraine will focus on securing faster inspections of ships under the Black Sea grain deal with Russia
Ukraine has said that it is presently focusing on securing faster inspections of ships rather than including more ports in the initiative, to increase exports under the Black Sea grain deal with Russia.
Ukraine is a major global grain producer and exporter, but production and exports have fallen since Russia invaded the country in February 2022 and started blockading its seaports. After several rounds of negotiations and intervention by Turkey and the United Nations, 3 leading Ukrainian Black Sea ports in the Odesa region were unblocked in July 2022, to address the global shortage. Under the deal, all ships are inspected by joint teams in the Bosphorus.
Ukraine has accused Russia of carrying out the inspections too slowly, causing weeks of delays for ships and reducing the supply of Ukrainian grain to foreign markets. Russia has denied slowing down the process.
Speaking on the occasion, a Senior Ukrainian official said, “Ukraine focuses on normalising inspections rather than opening new ports.”
Referring to a port that is not part of the deal, the official said, “Why open the port of Mykolaiv if at the current rate of exports we can close half of the ports of Odesa, which are already open?”
Ukraine exported around 7 million tonnes of agricultural products in September and October and 6 million in November 2022, but shipments fell sharply to less than 4 million in December 2022. Kyiv attributes the drop to a slowdown of inspections.
Ukraine’s Infrastructure Ministry has said that no new vessels were currently expected to arrive in Ukraine for loading. It said 94 vessels were waiting for inspection in the Bosphorus, including 69 empty vessels for loading and 25 which had already been loaded with agricultural products. At an average, the vessels have to wait for a month for inspection.
Besides, the President of Russia – Vladimir Putin has deployed a frigate armed with hypersonic cruise missiles towards the Atlantic and Indian oceans in a show of military force as the war in Ukraine intensifies. Putin took part in a ceremony via video conference to mark the launch of the Admiral Gorshkov warship.
Putin said, “The ship is equipped with the latest hypersonic missile system – ‘Zircon’ – which has no analogues. I would like to wish the crew… success in their service for the good of the Motherland.”
The frigate is capable of delivering pinpoint and powerful strikes against the enemy at sea and on land. The hypersonic missiles on board could overcome any missile defence system and had a range of more than 1,000 kilometres (620 miles).
Russia said the main focus of the mission is to counter threats to Russia and support regional peace and stability together with friendly countries. Training will be provided to the crew on deploying hypersonic weapons and long-range cruise missiles.
