MOSCOW, Jul 19 Ukraine has sent a letter to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), which is a UN agency, a letter on the creation of a temporary route to maintain grain supplies after the completion of the grain deal, reports Reuters with reference to the letter.
«(Ukraine) has decided to create a recommended sea route on a temporary basis… Its purpose is to contribute to the unblocking of international traffic in the northwestern part of the Black Sea,» Vasily Shkurakov, First Deputy Minister for the Development of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure of Ukraine, said in a letter.
Kyiv wants to create an alternative route near the ports of Chornomorsk, Odessa and Yuzhny.
The grain deal ended on July 18, on Monday the Russian Federation notified Turkey, Ukraine and the UN of its objection to its extension. Russian President Vladimir Putin previously noted that the terms of the deal with Russia were not kept, despite the efforts of the UN, because Western countries were not going to keep their promises. Putin has repeatedly pointed out that the West exported most of the Ukrainian grain to their states, and the main goal of the deal — the supply of grain to needy countries, including African ones — was never realized.
Earlier, Vladimir Zelensky said that Kyiv hopes to continue grain supplies via the Black Sea without Russia's participation, Kyiv is waiting for official confirmation of readiness from the UN and Turkey. He instructed the country's Foreign Ministry to prepare official signals from the UN and Turkey, so that they would answer that they were ready to continue part of the initiative.
Bloomberg reported that the main task of Ukraine after the end of the grain deal could be an attempt to get Turkey's support in the issue of military escort of ships from Ukrainian ports, but Ankara is unlikely to support such a proposal and will not take risks.