The Turkish TV channel TRT, with reference to sources in the Ministry of National Defense of Turkey, writes that the Black Sea Grain Corridor has started working again. Before that, his work was blocked by Russia.
The TV channel clarifies that it was possible to resume the work of the grain initiative with the assistance of Turkey. Vessels are currently being inspected.
- On May 8, Russia once again blocked the registration and inspection of ships bound for Ukrainian ports. In this way, it made the operation of the "grain agreement" impossible. At that time, 90 ships were waiting for inspection in the territorial waters of Turkey, of which 62 are ships that are going to be loaded.
- Prior to that, technical negotiations regarding the continuation of the "grain agreement" were held in Turkey, which were unsuccessful — the parties (Ukraine, Turkey, the UN and Russia) did not reach an agreement on the issue of the admission of new ships to transport grain from Ukraine. New negotiations, bilateral and multilateral, with the participation of deputy ministers are announced on May 10 and 11 in Istanbul.
- On April 26, Russia once again blocked the operation of the Black Sea Grain Corridor, despite the fact that on March 13, 2023, after negotiations with UN representatives, the Russian side agreed to extend the "grain agreement", but only for 60 days. Then the Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Oleksandr Kubrakov said that such a position of Russia contradicts the agreement, because it can be extended by at least 120 days. Then Turkey, the UN and Ukraine announced that the agreement had been extended for exactly 120 days.