Ukraine: 7 Ships Leave Ports with 248,000 Tons of Grain

The Ukrainian government announced on Sunday the departure of seven more ships loaded with 248,000 tons of Ukrainian agricultural products, heading to Asia and Europe from the ports of Ukraine on the Black Sea.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Infrastructure indicated - in a statement carried by the Ukrainian "Ukrinform" news agency - that at the present time 740,000 tons of Ukrainian agricultural products are being loaded onto 19 other ships.

It explained that so far, 501 ships loaded with 12.2 million tons of grain and foodstuffs have exited from Ukrainian ports to countries in Asia, Europe and Africa since August 1, after work began according to the grain deal.

On the other hand, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said, in a statement to Russian television reported by the Russian "TASS" news agency, that the United States does not allow the Ukrainian leadership to start negotiations with Russia.

He added that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky violated the basic principles of the negotiation process, and saw that the second mistake made by Ukraine was "bargaining," as he put it.

Ukraine, Russia and the United Nations signed the initiative for the safe transportation of grain and foodstuffs from the ports of Odessa, Chornomorsk and Pevdennyi in Istanbul on July 22, and the first ship loaded with Ukrainian grain left the port of Odessa on August 1.

While the negotiation process between Russia and Ukraine failed after several attempts due to the preconditions set by the two countries to activate the negotiation process, the negotiations that took place between Moscow and Kiev under the auspices of the United Nations to allow the export of agricultural grains through the Black Sea were successful.