Russia is ready to provide humanitarian corridors for ships carrying food to leave the port UkraineThe Interfax news agency quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko as saying on Wednesday, in return for the lifting of some sanctions, the Interfax news agency quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko as saying.
Ukraine’s Black Sea ports have been blocked since Russia sent thousands of troops into Ukraine on February 24, and more than 20 million tons of grain are trapped in bunkers in the country.
Russia and Ukraine account for almost a third of the global wheat supply, and the lack of significant grain exports from Ukrainian ports is contributing to a growing global food crisis.
Ukraine is also a major exporter of corn and sunflower oil.
Western powers discussed the idea of establishing a “safe corridor” for grain exports from Ukrainian ports, adding that any such corridor would require consent. of Russia.
“We have repeatedly stated on this point that a solution to the food problem requires a comprehensive approach, including the lifting of sanctions already imposed on exports and Russian financial transactions,” Rudenko said.
“And it also requires the Ukrainian side to clear mines and mines in all ports where ships are anchored. Russia is ready to provide the necessary humanitarian passage, which it does every day.”
Rudenko was quoted by another news agency, RIA, as saying Russia was in contact with the United Nations on the matter.
Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of planting drift mines in the Black Sea.
Rudenko was also quoted by Interfax as saying that Western ships escorting Ukrainian grain ships would “exacerbate the situation in the Black Sea”.
On Tuesday, Britain said it had no plans to send British warships to help get food exports out of the blockaded Ukrainian port of Odesa.
Odesa, on the Black Sea, is Ukraine’s main deep-water port.
In the shallow Sea of Azov, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday that the port of Mariupol, a Ukrainian city occupied by Russia, is operating normally after Russian forces completed demining there.
