Another 7 Ships Leave Ukraine Under Istanbul Grain Deal - Turkish Defense Ministry

ANKARA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th September, 2022) Seven more ships have left Ukrainian ports under the Black Sea grain deal, the Turkish Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.

"As part of the grain shipment, as of this morning, 7 more ships with grain have left Ukrainian ports," the statement read.

On July 22, Russia, Ukraine, and Turkey signed an UN-brokered initiative to provide a humanitarian maritime corridor for ships with food and fertilizer exports from Black Sea ports. Three key Ukrainian ports � Odesa, Chornomorsk, and Yuzhne � were unblocked to resume exports. The Istanbul-based Joint Coordination Center (JCC) was set up to monitor the implementation of the initiative, including ensuring that cargo ships do not carry unauthorized goods or personnel.

Since the signing of the deal, only 28% of grain shipments from Ukraine went to low-income countries, and 44% to high-income countries, according to a report of the JCC on September 12. Russian President Vladimir Putin said he will discuss a revision of the deal with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan during the upcoming SCO summit in Samarkand. Moreover, Russian envoy to the UN said the part of the deal concerning Russian food exports was not working altogether, which may lead to the termination of the agreements.