Ukraine has summoned Turkey’s ambassador after saying Turkey allowed a Russian-flagged ship carrying allegedly thousands of tons of stolen Ukrainian grain to leave the port of Karasu.
“We regret that Russia’s ship Zhibek Zholy, full of stolen Ukrainian grain, was allowed to leave the port of Karasu despite criminal evidence being presented to the Turkish authorities,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said. “The Ambassador of Turkey in Kyiv is invited to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine to clarify this unacceptable situation.”
Turkish customs officials seized the ship on Tuesday at Ukraine’s request after Kyiv said the cargo illegally transported 7,000 tons of grain from Russian-held Berdyansk, a port in southeastern Ukraine.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov confirmed the ship was flying the Russian flag but appeared to muddy the waters while saying the Kremlin was seeking clarification. “The ship is really under the Russian flag, but I think it belongs to Kazakhstan and the cargo was carried under a contract between Estonia and Turkey,” Lavrov told reporters on Monday.
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Kyiv has accused Russia of stealing more than 600,000 tons of grain from occupied Ukrainian territories to sell on international markets. Ukraine’s grain exports account for almost 15% of total world exports.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February and Moscow’s control of Ukrainian grain exit routes to the Black Sea have created a global food crisis that threatens to plunge the worst-hit countries into famine.
Turkey with its Bosphorus Strait is an important transit route for shipping from the Black Sea. Ukraine has tried to pressure Ankara to stop Russian shipments of its grain, a major source of revenue.