[1/2]A grain ship carrying Ukrainian grain is seen in the Black Sea, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, near the Ukrainian port of Odessa, Ukraine, November 2, 2022. Portal/Serhii Smolientsev/File Photo ACKNOWLEDGE RIGHTS
Sept 2 (Portal) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that two more ships had passed through a “temporary” Black Sea shipping corridor established since Russia withdrew from a United Nations-backed grain export deal in July.
“Two ships successfully passed through our temporary ‘grain corridor,'” Zelenskiy posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The president did not name the ships involved or say when they completed their crossing. Officials said Friday that two ships had cleared the corridor, bringing the number of those who have used it to four.
Zelenskiy said Ukraine was “restoring true freedom of navigation in the Black Sea. Freedom requires determination.”
On Friday, a Ukrainian deputy prime minister said two ships sailed through the corridor from Pivdenny port: one flying the Liberian flag, the other from the Marshall Islands. The ships transported pig iron and iron concentrate.
Russia has blocked Ukrainian ports since its neighbor invaded in February 2022 and threatened to treat all ships as potential military targets after withdrawing from the United Nations-backed agreement.
In response, Ukraine announced a “humanitarian corridor” encompassing the western Black Sea coast near Romania and Bulgaria.
The grain deal had allowed Ukraine, a major agricultural exporter, to ship tens of millions of tons of produce to other countries during the Russian invasion.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Monday as Ankara and the United Nations seek to revive the grain export deal.
Russia terminated the agreement in July after it had been in force for a year, complaining that its own food and fertilizer exports were facing obstacles and that not enough Ukrainian grain was reaching countries in need.
Reporting by Ron Popeski; Editing by Jonathan Oatis
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