Russia Blocks Ship Movements In Ukraine Port

The Ukrainian port of Pivdennyi has halted operations because Russia is not allowing ships to enter it, affecting the promised safe transport of exports under the Black Sea deal, a Ukrainian official said.

The United Nations, which, together with Turkey, brokered the deal and its extension, expressed concern on Monday that Pivdennyi, a Ukrainian port, had not received any ships since May 2.

“Formally, the port of Pivdennyi is in the Initiative, but in fact it hasn’t been there for a month. It has no incoming fleet,” Ukrainian Deputy Renovation Minister Yuriy Vaskov told the Reuters news agency.

“They [Russia] have now found an effective way to significantly reduce [Ukrainian] grain exports by excluding the port of Pivdennyi, which handles large tonnage vessels, from the initiative,” he said in written comments.

Vaskov added that it was a “gross violation” of the agreement.

Aljazeera/Shakirat Sadiq