Last Ship Carrying Ukrainian Grain Leaves Port of Odesa as Deal Nears Deadline
KYIV, July 16 – The final ship to transport Ukrainian grain under a U.N.-brokered deal allowing safe Black Sea exports departed from the port of Odesa on Sunday morning, according to witnesses and MarineTraffic.com.
Russia has not registered any new ships since June 27, and unless Moscow agrees to an extension, the initiative will expire on Monday.
A United Nations spokesman announced on Friday that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is awaiting a response from Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding a proposal to extend the deal.
During a phone call with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Saturday, Putin stated that commitments to remove obstacles to Russian food and fertilizer exports had not yet been fulfilled, as reported by the Kremlin.
Russia has repeatedly threatened to withdraw from the deal, which was brokered by the U.N. and Turkey in July 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It was previously extended for two months on May 17.
Ukrainian officials did not immediately comment on whether the Turkish-flagged TQ Samsun, the ship in question, had indeed left Odesa.
Both Ukraine and Russia are prominent grain exporters worldwide.
Reporting by Iryna Nazarchuk and Dan Peleschuk; editing by Barbara Lewis