About twenty experts in Turkey have examined the holds of the ‘Razoni’, which is already sailing to Lebanon, to prevent possible arms trade
The ‘Razoni’, the first grain-loaded ship to depart from a Ukrainian port since the start of the war, was inspected by international experts in Istanbul on Wednesday. A condition under consideration in the agreement that Russia and Ukraine signed with Turkey and the United Nations to unblock exports. The ship thus continues its journey through the Bosphorus and will arrive in the Lebanese port of Tripoli in the coming days. The success of this first mission offers some hope of overcoming one of the worst effects of the war: the global food crisis.
The ship, flying the flag of Sierra Leone, departed from the port of Odessa last Monday loaded with 26,000 tons of corn. After two days of sailing, it arrived on the Turkish coast on Wednesday, where it was inspected for an hour and a half by the Joint Coordination Center (CCC), the Istanbul-based body charged with overseeing exports. About twenty specialists arrived at the ‘Razoni’ on board two boats. The team is led by Turkish Admiral Özcan Altunbulak, head of the CCC, and retired American Admiral Fred Kenney. Russian and Ukrainian experts also oversaw the inspection, one of Russia’s demands to lift the ban on grain exports.
However, the good news has been met with skepticism by Kiev. Ukrainian President Volodímir Zelensky has celebrated the first shipment of grain “thanks to the United Nations in cooperation with Turkey” but has indicated that “it is nothing yet”. “The war is destroying our economy. He is in a coma,” the Ukrainian leader lamented in a video conference with Australian students. Zelensky said his country must export at least 10 million tons of grain to help its trade balance, which has been in a deficit of 5,000 million a month since the invasion began. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, on the other hand, has expressed satisfaction with this “first step” towards unblocking the food crisis.
Russia and Ukraine reached an agreement on July 22, sponsored by Turkey and the UN, to allow grain exports through the Black Sea, which had been blocked by Moscow since the start of the war. Before the invasion, Ukraine was the fifth largest grain producer in the world. It generates 42% sunflower oil worldwide, as well as 16% corn and 9% wheat. Kiev says 16 more grain ships are waiting to depart from Odessa, Chermomorsk and Pivdenni. Up to 25,000 tons of grain accumulates in Ukrainian ports.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has expressed hope for the first shipment through the naval corridor and hoped that the war’s progress will not block exports again. Meanwhile, on the ground, Kiev continues to evacuate the 200,000 civilians living in the Donetsk region, in Donbas, the epicenter of fighting since the early stages of the war.
In the south of the country, the head of the Ukrainian military administration at Kryviy Rig has claimed that a Russian shelling killed two civilians in a minibus trying to leave the Moscow-controlled Kherson region, where Ukrainian forces have launched a fierce counter-offensive. Dmytro Butriy, head of the Ukrainian authority in the area, assured on Tuesday that they have regained control of 53 settlements in Kherson. The Ukrainian position has been strengthened by the arrival of more Western weapons, especially long-range artillery.
Ukraine’s ambassador to Spain, Serhii Pohoreltsev, on Wednesday urged the government to increase arms deliveries to continue fighting the Russian attack on his country. “The situation remains very complicated, the enemy continues to attack us and therefore we need more weapons to resist,” Pohoreltsev acknowledged after meeting Defense Minister Margarita Robles, who avoided making any commitments in this regard. and limited himself to insisting that “Spain will continue to support within our means with humanitarian aid and shipment of war material”. Robles and the Ukrainian ambassador met just one day after the defense minister announced the cancellation of the shipment of the Leopard battle tanks after verifying the “deplorable” state they are in. “We need more and more things,” Pohoreltsev noted after assuring, referring to Spain, that “if you want to help, you always look and find a way to do it.”
Source: La Verdad
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