The United Nations is calling for "urgent action" to prevent delays in trials under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, UN spokeswoman Ismini Palla told CNN on Sunday.
"The United Nations is convening the parties every day and strongly calling for full and conscientious participation in the Initiative and the need to take additional urgent measures so that the supply chain is not disrupted and the Initiative continues to deliver more and much-needed food to the world," Palla said.
Palla confirmed that there are currently "more than 150 vessels waiting to arrive in Istanbul, and these delays could lead to disruptions in the supply chain and port operations."
She told CNN that the Joint Coordination Center (JCC), made up of representatives from Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Nations, has recognized the problem of delays and is discussing ways to solve the problem.
Ukrainian officials have said that Moscow is deliberately slowing food supplies under an agreement signed in July between Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations.
The channel notes that in recent weeks, Russia has complained that the part of the agreement that allows the export of its agricultural products and fertilizers is allegedly not being followed. Gennady Gatilov, Russia's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, said last week that Moscow could withdraw from the agreement, according to Reuters. Russian President Vladimir Putin later intervened, threatening that Russia would close the export corridors if they were used for "terrorist attacks," the channel said.