Ukraine is discussing a plan with Turkey, Egypt and India to protect food shipments through the Black Sea, President Volodymyr Zelensky told Bloomberg News in an exclusive interview, but said Russia was resisting the proposal, Bloomberg reported .
The three countries have proposed using vessels sailing under their flags to carry food from both Ukrainian and Russian ports, with commitments from the warring sides not to attack the ships.
Zelensky said intermediaries from Turkey, India and Egypt had repeatedly contacted Russia about the arrangement, but Moscow remained opposed.
The talks would give Ankara another role in efforts to secure Black Sea food exports after Turkey and the United Nations brokered the original grain agreement signed in Istanbul on July 22, 2022.
That agreement, known as the Black Sea Grain Initiative, established a protected shipping route from the Ukrainian ports of Odesa, Chornomorsk and Pivdennyi following Russia’s full-scale invasion. A joint coordination center in İstanbul brought together representatives from Turkey, Ukraine, Russia and the UN to oversee shipments and inspections.
The initiative enabled the export of nearly 33 million metric tons of grain and other food products before Russia withdrew in July 2023, refusing to extend it. Moscow argued that obstacles to its own food and fertilizer exports had not been resolved.
The proposal Zelensky described to Bloomberg would protect vessels serving both sides, rather than simply restore the earlier arrangement for Ukrainian exports.
Ukraine’s Black Sea ports are its main outlet for food exports, but shipments have been halted since August amid Russian attacks on port facilities and commercial vessels, according to Bloomberg.
“We cannot manage this volume of shipments by rail,” Zelensky told the outlet.
Kyiv can currently export only 38 percent of its usual volume, Bloomberg reported, citing Ukraine’s Agriculture Ministry.
The disruption has also prompted Ukraine to seek additional help from the European Union. Zelensky said Kyiv had asked Brussels to renew its “solidarity lanes” program, which helped move Ukrainian agricultural goods through European rail networks and ports after the invasion began in 2022.
“We are asking the EU to reinstate the ‘solidarity lanes’ to facilitate grain exports,” he told Bloomberg. “Everyone needs this grain.”
The intensified Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilian port infrastructure followed Ukraine’s strikes last summer on Russia’s so-called shadow fleet, which transports mostly sanctioned oil and fuel products.
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