Damage to agricultural facilities in the Ukrainian region of Zaporizhia – Dmytro Smolyenko / Zuma Press / ContactoPhoto
–
Follow live the latest news about the war in Ukraine
kyiv celebrates the arrival at its destination of the first ship and invites Moscow to comply with what was agreed to guarantee supply
MADRID, 8 (EUROPA PRESS)
A cargo ship with corn transported from Ukraine arrived in Turkey on Monday, an unprecedented milestone since the transport of grain from Black Sea ports began thanks to the agreement sealed between kyiv and Moscow to alleviate one of the collateral effects of the conflict that began in February.
The first ship to reach its final destination was the Turkish-flagged ‘Polarnet’, which has arrived at the port of Izmit, in the Sea of Marmara, according to the Anatolia news agency. She transports about 12,000 tons of corn that will be unloaded in Turkish territory.
The Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dimitro Kuleba, has called this fact “a sign of hope for all families in the Middle East, Africa and Asia”, and has assured that Ukraine “always” has been a “reliable supplier of agricultural products” . “Unlike Russia, we are not playing the ‘Hunger Games,'” he said, according to a statement from the diplomatic portfolio.
That is why he has transferred all responsibility to Russia in the event that the supply of cereals from Ukrainian ports is cut off and has remarked that if Moscow fulfills its obligations, cereal exports “will continue to guarantee the food stability” of the most needy.
–
Finally, Kuleba thanked the United Nations and Turkey for their cooperation, as well as the entire crew of the ship ‘Polarnet’ for having been the first to complete the food export corridor, “thus opening the way for all other ships”.
In total, a dozen ships have already left Ukraine, two of them on Monday, according to the Turkish Ministry of Defense, a mediating country between the Russian and Ukrainian authorities and which facilitated the signing of an agreement with the UN on 22 of July for the transfer of the grain.
As detailed by the Istanbul coordinating center, in charge of supervising the vessels that enter and leave the Black Sea, these two ships are the ‘Sacura’, whose cargo is 11,000 tons of soy destined for Ravenna, in Italy; and the ‘Arizona’, whose cargo is about 48,500 tons of corn destined for Alexandretta, in Turkey.
kyiv has pledged to guide ships into mined waters to avoid Russian attacks, and Moscow has agreed not to attack ships or port infrastructure. However, the volume of exports is still minimal, given that the Ukrainian authorities estimated this month at more than 20 million tons of grain that remain blocked.
–
