Foreign-flagged ship in Ukraine to pick up grain

KYIV/ISTANBUL/MOSCOW－A foreign-flagged ship arrived in Ukraine on Saturday for the first time since the conflict started in February, and will be loaded with grain, Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said.

Ukraine is starting to resume grain exports in an effort overseen by a Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul in which Russian, Ukrainian, Turkish and United Nations personnel are working.

The United Nations and Turkiye brokered a deal after UN warnings of possible outbreaks of famine due to a halt in grain shipments from Ukraine. Before the conflict, Russia and Ukraine together accounted for nearly a third of global wheat exports.

Kubrakov said the Barbados-flagged general cargo ship Fulmar S was in the Ukrainian port of Chornomorsk.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the resumption of exports was positive, adding that security risks remained.

Ukraine eventually aims to ship out 3 million tons a month from its Black Sea ports, Kubrakov said.

The second fleet of ships transporting grain from Ukraine arrived at the shores of Istanbul, the Turkish Defense Ministry said on Saturday. And four ships carrying Ukrainian foodstuffs sailed from Ukrainian Black Sea ports on Sunday, Ukrainian and Turkish officials said.

However, the first grain ship to leave a Ukrainian port under a deal brokered last month will not arrive in Lebanon on Sunday as planned, the Ukrainian embassy in Lebanon said.

The Razoni left Odessa on the Black Sea early last Monday carrying more than 26,000 tons of corn and was set to dock on Sunday in the northern Lebanese port city of Tripoli, according to Ukrainian officials and Lebanese port authorities.

On Friday, Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Turkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed to strengthen bilateral relations during talks in the Russian city of Sochi.

They pledged to increase bilateral trade in a balanced way and to meet each other's expectations in the economic and energy fields, a media statement issued after their meeting said.

According to the statement, the leaders said they would take concrete steps to boost collaboration on issues concerning sectors such as agriculture, commerce, finance, industry, tourism and transportation.

They praised the Russia-Ukraine grain export deal reached last month in Istanbul, and they underscored the need to ensure its full implementation, including the unimpeded export of Russia's grain, fertilizers and raw materials.

They also discussed Syria and Libya, the statement said.

Agencies - Xinhua