The UN announced the resumption of the inspection of ships under the grain deal

Vessel inspections under the Black Sea Grain Deal have been resumed after two days of negotiations. This was announced by the press secretary of the deal coordinator from the UN Ismini Palla.

“The Joint Coordinating Center resumed ship inspections today after two days of negotiations,” she said (cit. according to RIA Novosti).

Earlier, the spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, Stephane Dujarric, said that the inspections were not carried out on April 17 and 18 due to “lack of consent.” In particular, on April 17, the Ministry of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine reported that Russia allegedly blocked ship inspections for the second time as part of a grain deal. In turn, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova laid responsibility on the Ukrainian side.

On April 11, the Joint Coordinating Center (JCC) in Istanbul was unable to inspect the vessels for the grain deal. Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN Secretary General, explained that “it took the parties more time to reach an agreement on operational priorities.” He specified that 50 ships are expected to be sent to Ukrainian ports. At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation declaredthat the inspection was slowed down due to “the actions of the Ukrainians themselves and the UN.” On April 12, inspections were resumed.

The grain deal was concluded on July 22, 2022 by representatives of Turkey and the UN, on the one hand, and representatives of Russia and Ukraine, on the other. Separate agreements were signed with Moscow and Kiev: the first was for the export of Ukrainian grain from three ports, including Odessa, Yuzhny and Chernomorsk, the second was for assistance in the export of Russian grain and fertilizers. Moscow has repeatedly noted that the second part of the deal is not being implemented.

On March 14, Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Alexander Grushko announced the extension of the grain deal for 60 days and the confirmation of its package nature. The agreement expires May 18. April 17 in the Kremlin called the prospects for extending the deal are “not so rosy”.