Russia informed officials overseeing the Black Sea Grain Initiative (BSGI) that it would limit registration of ships to the port of Pivdennyi, in Ukraine’s Odesa province, until all parties agree to unblock the transit of Russian ammonia, a United Nations spokesman has said.
Ukraine’s renovation and infrastructure ministry said on Thursday that the UN-brokered BSGI had been halted again because Russia had blocked the registration of ships to all Ukrainian ports.
The UN and Turkey brokered the BSGI between Moscow and Kyiv last July to help tackle a global food crisis aggravated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a leading global grain exporter.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said there had been a “continuous slowdown” in vessel departures under the Black Sea deal from April through May, and that the average daily inspection rate for ships had fallen to three.
“This is a very serious situation. We need to move forward,” Dujarric told reporters at the UN in New York.__Al Jazeera
