Yurii Vaskov, Deputy Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine, who is responsible for the Black Sea Grain Initiative, has said that the implementation of the initiative is in a “critical situation” due to Russia’s actions.

Source: Vaskov in an interview with The Guardian

Details: Representatives from Russia, Türkiye and the UN inspect ships on their way to and from Ukrainian ports, as part of the Black Sea Initiative. A joint commission agrees on the names of ships to be examined.

Yurii Vaskov has said that, however, no inspections happened on Tuesday.

The Ukrainian side submitted the names of three bulk grain carriers, as per the treaty agreement. The Russians, however, crossed out the names and submitted other inbound vessels from the current queue of 50. As a result, no ships were allowed to continue on their journey, in what amounts to a de-facto blockade by Moscow.

Quote from Vaskov: “Today we have a critical situation. The Russians have violated the conditions of the Black Sea grain initiative. They decided to unilaterally change the plans of Ukrainian ports. It’s unacceptable.”

More details: Vaskov has also stressed that if the standoff continues, global food prices are likely to go up by 15%. He said Ukraine farmers would be forced to stockpile grain again, like last summer, and would face serious financial hardship.

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Kyiv has urgently raised Tuesday’s violation with the UN and Türkiye, he added.

Background: On 18 March, the Ukrainian government announced the prolongation of the Black Sea Initiative by 120 days. However, the Russian Federation later announced the deal would be prolonged only by 60 days and threatened to completely break it off if its ultimatum demands were not met.

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