The release of a Russian ship allegedly carrying Ukrainian grain stolen from Turkish waters is “unacceptable”, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said.
Turkey ignored a request to arrest the ship and cargo and the ship was released on July 6, according to a ministry statement on Thursday.
The message expressed “deep disappointment and appeals to the Turkish side with an urgent request to conduct an investigation and provide a full response to the requests of the relevant Ukrainian authorities”.
The Russian merchant ship, Zhibek Zholy, had loaded grain from the busy port of Berdiansk to the Turkish port of Karasu.
Regarding the unacceptable situation, the Turkish ambassador in Kyiv was invited to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” the ministry added.
CNN has contacted the Turkish government for comment.
Russian news agency TASS said on Thursday that the Zhibek Zholy, “which is docked in Turkey, plans to leave due to downtime and send grain to a storage vessel.”
“It is planned to go to the accumulator (storage) ship and transshipment,” TASS said, citing one of the ship’s crew members. “Then when the big ship is loaded, (it) goes to the ports and unloads.”
Transport monitoring data on Thursday shows that the Zhibek Zholy’s transponder is no longer active at its recent mooring off Karasu.
Satellite images show that Russian ships frequently offload their cargo to other ships in the Black Sea.
Ukraine’s ambassador to Turkey, Vasyl Bodnar, previously told CNN that the Zhibek Zholy was moored near Karasu because “it was in fact detained by the Turkish customs authorities and is not allowed to enter the port”.
“We are now awaiting the decision of the relevant Turkish authorities on the actions that Ukraine’s law enforcement agencies insist,” he added.
Some background: For months, Ukraine and allied countries have been trying to mitigate a growing food crisis caused by Russia’s months-long blockade of Ukrainian ports, with Moscow accused of using food as a weapon of war.
On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said up to 60 million tonnes of grain could be stranded in the country until autumn if it continues to face blocked exports.
The United Nations (UN) said that Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian ports had already raised global food prices and threatened to cause catastrophic food shortages in some parts of the world.
Russia has repeatedly denied that it is blocking ports or stealing grain.
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m James Harper, a highly experienced and accomplished news writer for World Stock Market. I have been writing in the Politics section of the website for over five years, providing readers with up-to-date and insightful information about current events in politics. My work is widely read and respected by many industry professionals as well as laymen.
