The United States sees "viable routes" for the export of Ukrainian grain — through Ukraineʼs territorial waters and over land. It is even possible to reach the pre-war level of exports from Ukraine in the coming months.
James OʼBrien, head of the Department of Stateʼs Sanctions Coordination Office, told Reuters about this.
"I think we see viable routes through Ukraineʼs territorial waters and overland, and weʼre looking to get back to pre-war exports from Ukraine over the next few months," OʼBrien said.
On August 10, Ukraine announced temporary sea corridors for merchant vessels. There is a military threat and mine danger on all routes. If the owner or captain of the vessel officially confirms readiness to sail in the prevailing conditions, the vessel will be admitted to the route. Under these conditions , on August 16, the first merchant ship with more than 30,000 tons of cargo on board, including food, left the Odesa port. On August 18, the ship arrived in Istanbul.
- The last ship with Ukrainian food left the port of Odessa on July 16. On July 17, the Kremlin announced that it was withdrawing from the "grain agreement". Already on July 19, Russian troops carried out a missile and drone attack on the port infrastructure of Odesa, targeting the grain and oil terminals. Ukraine said that Russian troops targeted 26 port facilities, five civilian ships and destroyed at least 180,000 tons of grain.