Seven ships carrying grain left Ukrainian ports on November 2 following the revival of the Black Sea grain corridor, according to Oleksandr Kubrakov, the Ukrainian Minister of Infrastructure.
The vessels are headed to Spain, Italy, The Netherlands, Oman, and three to China.
Russia’s defense ministry confirmed on Wednesday that Moscow would again participate in the grain deal after receiving “sufficient guarantees” from Kyiv that it would not use the maritime corridor to carry out military operations against Russian fleet.
“Russia considers that the received guarantees are, at the moment, sufficient and is resuming the implementation of the agreement,” the ministry said.
Russia had on Saturday warned to pull out of the grain deal, accusing Kyiv of using a safe shipping corridor set up under the agreement to carry out a drone attack on its Black Sea fleet.
Turkey and UN’s role
Turkey and the United Nations — who played a key role in materializing deal in July –once again played crucial role in saving the grain dealdesigned to ease global food crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had earlier told the parliament that the Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu had confirmed the Turkish Defense Minister that the grain dealwould resume as of midday on Wednesday, Nov. 3.
“Shipments will continue from 12pm today [09:00 GMT] as planned,”Erdogan had told parliament.
Zelenskyy thanks Turkey
Zelenskyy thanked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan “for his active participation in preserving the grain deal”.
The deal, overseen by the Joint Coordination Centre in Istanbul, has allowed over 9.7 million metric tonnes of grain and other food items to leave Ukrainian ports.
Under the terms of the deal, which was brokered by Turkey and the United Nations in July, ships moving to and from Ukraine are inspected by a joint team of Russian, Turkish, Ukrainian and UN officials.