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| Grain Deal News Roundup for August 16th, 2023 |
| 2023-08-17 |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. The first ship from Odessa passed through the grain corridor opened by Ukraine [Regnum] A container ship with more than 30 thousand tons of cargo left the port of Odessa, it became the first ship to use the temporary corridor opened by Kiev in the Black Sea. This was announced by the Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Oleksandr Kubrakov on his page on the social network. “The first ship used the temporary corridor for merchant ships to / from the ports of Greater Odessa,” he wrote, specifying that the Joseph Schulte container ship left the port of Odessa, it follows the temporary corridor established for civilian ships to/from the Black Sea seaports of Ukraine. He added that the ship has been in the port of Odessa since February 23, 2022, it is currently heading towards the Bosphorus with more than 30 thousand tons of cargo, this is the first ship that left the port of Odessa since July 16. As IA Regnum reported, Ukraine announced temporary corridors in the Black Sea for merchant ships. As noted on August 10 in Kyiv, we are talking about going to or from the ports of Odessa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny. The Ukrainian authorities noted that a military threat remains on the designated routes, so only ships whose owners and captains officially agree to this can pass through them. The Russian Ministry of Defense, after the country's withdrawal from the grain deal, stated that from July 20, ships sailing in the Black Sea to Ukrainian ports are considered as potential carriers of military cargo. The department noted that the countries whose flags are located on the following ships will be considered by the Russian side involved in the Ukrainian conflict. Along with this, certain sea areas of the northwestern and southeastern parts of the international waters of the Black Sea were declared temporarily dangerous for navigation. From midnight on July 21, Ukraine imposed a ban on navigation for ships that call at the Black Sea ports of Russia, they can be recognized as objects carrying military cargo. On July 17, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov announced the suspension of the grain deal. He noted that none of the promises given to Russia at the conclusion of this agreement was never fulfilled. The Black Sea deal between Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the UN on the export of grain from Ukrainian ports has been in force since July 22, 2022. On July 4, 2023, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that there were no grounds for a further extension of the deal, since it had turned into a purely commercial export of food from Ukraine to “well-fed” countries. The Foreign Ministry also reported that the ports controlled by Kiev and the corridor opened by Russia for the export of Ukrainian grain were used by the Kiev regime to carry out terrorist attacks. More from regnum.ru Türkiye discusses with the UN and the West the renewal of the grain deal Negotiations between Ankara and Washington on alternatives to the "grain deal" were held at the level of discussions and proposals, they did not contain specifics, Turkey continues to contact the UN and the West to resume the work of the "grain deal", it is also in constant contact with Russia. This was reported by RIA Novosti, citing a source in Ankara participating in the negotiations. “These were proposals from the West, in particular the United States. While everything was at the level of discussions, there are no concrete decisions or a plan yet,” the agency quotes the words of the interlocutor. He also noted that Turkey is making efforts to resume the work of the Black Sea grain initiative, work is underway with all parties, the country is in constant contact with Russia, the source added. As IA Regnum reported, earlier the Wall Street Journal, citing officials, reported that after the termination of the “grain deal”, Washington is negotiating with Kiev, Ankara and other Eastern European states to create other routes for the export of Ukrainian grain. The grain deal concluded in July 2022 between Russia, Ukraine, the UN and Turkey has been repeatedly extended. In the summer of 2023, Moscow refused to prolong the agreement and suspended participation in the agreements from July 18, as the West did not fulfill the conditions of the Russian side. Another reason for withdrawing from the deal was that the Ukrainian side used the corridors provided to it for terrorist attacks against Russian civilian and military facilities. Yet more from regnum.ru Russian Ambassador Yerkhov: Moscow is working with partners on alternatives to a grain deal Russia is working with its partners on alternatives to the grain deal, Russian Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Turkey Alexei Yerkhov said on August 16 in an interview with IHA. “The Black Sea Initiative is by no means a panacea for meeting the food needs of African and other countries, there are alternatives,” he said, adding that they are being worked out in contacts with Russia's partners. Yerkhov also stressed that it is Moscow that makes a colossal contribution to ensuring global food security, and after the fulfillment of Russian legal requirements, it will be possible to talk about the resumption of the grain deal. As IA Regnum reported, the Black Sea deal between Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the UN on the export of grain from Ukrainian ports has been in effect since July 22, 2022. On July 4, 2023, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that there were no grounds for a further extension of the deal, since it had turned into a purely commercial export of food from Ukraine to “well-fed” countries. The Foreign Ministry also reported that the ports controlled by Kiev and the corridor opened by Russia for the export of Ukrainian grain were used by the Kiev regime to carry out terrorist attacks. On July 17, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov announced the suspension of the grain deal. He noted that none of the promises given to Russia at the conclusion of this agreement was never fulfilled. The Russian Ministry of Defense, after the country's withdrawal from the grain deal, stated that from July 20, ships sailing in the Black Sea to Ukrainian ports are considered as potential carriers of military cargo. The department noted that the countries whose flags are located on the following ships will be considered by the Russian side involved in the Ukrainian conflict. Along with this, certain sea areas of the northwestern and southeastern parts of the international waters of the Black Sea were declared temporarily dangerous for navigation. |
| Posted by:badanov |
| #1 This seems a good opportunity for the PLAN to step in escorting black sea traffic. They score a bit of "good guys" PR and some real world practice at something other than terrorizing fishermen and playing chicken in the South China Sea. My only question to those with mor knowledge is are they capable of deploying and sustaining for es that far from home? |
| Posted by: GA Mike 2023-08-17 02:37 |