The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, made a special statement regarding the situation with the grain initiative, stressing that the delay in the courts is solely due to the actions of the Russian side.
"Ukraine complies with its obligations under the grain agreement. We want it to continue to work and expand. We want all our grain exports to reach foreign consumers as soon as possible. We are interested in Ukrainian grain contributing to food security, in particular, in the countries of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia," he emphasized.
The minister noted that since the beginning of the initiative and until October 23, more than 8.5 tons of grain were exported from Ukrainian ports. 386 ships entered the ports, 379 have already left with cargo. Two thirds of this grain went to African and Asian markets, one third to Europe.
"Russia is lying, saying that most of Ukraine's grain exports go to Europe. We warned that by making such false statements, Russia is trying to derail the grain initiative. And that is exactly what they are doing now. Russian diplomats are making new demands and conditions for Russia is threatening to withdraw from the agreement in order to obtain some political advantages, they are ready to resume the "Hunger Games" with the world and do not care that this poses a threat to thousands of families in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. Ukraine does not put forward any additional conditions," he emphasized. Dmytro Kuleba.
As "Economichna Pravda" reported, due to the fact that Russia is delaying inspections of ships entering and leaving Ukrainian seaports, the queue to pass through the "grain corridor" has already exceeded 170 ships.