Ministry of Infrastructure: The Russians brought the implementation of the “grain agreement” to a critical state. They block inspections

The Ministry of Infrastructure says that the Russians are grossly violating the agreements under the "grain agreement". They actually block ship inspections.

Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Yurii Vaskov told about this in a comment to The Guardian.

He said that the joint commission of Turkey, the UN and Russia agreed on the names of the ships that should undergo inspections. But there were no inspections on Tuesday, as the Russians crossed out the agreed names and added others from the queue of 50 vessels. As a result, not a single vessel passed the inspection on Tuesday.

Vaskov says that such actions actually mean a blockade.

"The Russians have violated the conditions of the Black Sea grain initiative. They decided to unilaterally change the plans of Ukrainian ports. It’s unacceptable," the deputy minister emphasized.

According to him, if this situation does not change, food prices in the world will increase by 15%.

• On July 22, 2022, Russia signed an agreement on unblocking the export of Ukrainian grain from the ports of Odesa, Pivdenny, and Chornomorsk. Russia and Ukraine signed the agreement separately — each with the UN and Turkey. There are no signatures of Ukraine and Russia on the same document. At the beginning of August, the first caravan of ships left the ports of Odessa. On November 17, 2022, the agreement was officially extended for another four months.
• On March 13, after negotiations with UN representatives, the Russian side agreed to extend the "grain agreement", but only for 60 days. However, Russiaʼs future position will depend on "progress in the export of Russian agricultural products." The Russian Federation wants the West to ease sanctions on Russian food and fertilizers. But in Ukraine, they said that Russiaʼs position to extend the "grain agreement" for 60 days contradicts this agreement, because it can be extended for at least 120 days.