UN announced resumption of ship inspections under grain deal
Vessel inspections under the Black Sea Grain Initiative have been resumed after two days of negotiations, RIA Novosti reports
A spokesman for the UN deal coordinator, Ismini Palla, explained, “The Joint Co-ordinating Centre resumed inspections of vessels today after two days of negotiations. The delegations of the Russian Federation and Ukraine agreed after discussions mediated by the UN and Türkiye that new vessels will take part in the initiative.”
He added that the inspectors are already doing the necessary work.
Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the UN Secretary General, said earlier that inspections were not carried out on April 17th and 18th ‘due to lack of consent’.
The grain deal, which was signed on July 22nd, 2022, by representatives of Russia, Türkiye, Ukraine and the UN in Istanbul, involves the export of Ukrainian grain, food and fertiliser across the Black Sea from three ports, including Odessa. The co-ordination of vessel traffic is handled by the Joint Co-ordination Center in Istanbul. From March 18th, 2023, Russia extended the deal for 60 days – until May 18th, but Kiev insists on another extension.
