Russia slowed down the grain corridor for weeks before blocking it, – Zelenskyi

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said that Russia had been slowing down the grain corridor for weeks before blocking it completely.

“Week after week, Russia has slowed down the grain corridor, despite its promises to partners, and now it has blocked it completely,” he said in a video message on Sunday.

Noting, in particular, that the ship chartered by the UN Food Program for Ethiopia will not be able to leave the port of Chornomorsk, Zelenskyi said that it and other ships with agricultural products “have to wait because Russia is blackmailing the world with hunger.”

What did the world hear? As if someone from a grain truck launches drones… First, they talked about “war birds”, then – about “war insects”, now – “war grain”… Killer wheat, from which Russian admirals are drowning. Well, what can you say? In reality, they are sick people,” the president said.

But these sick people, he emphasized, are again putting the world on the brink of a severe food crisis.

“Russia is the sole culprit of the fact that food products will now become more expensive for various people in a vast space from West Africa to East Asia. Russia is the reason why people, in particular, in Ethiopia, Yemen or Somalia are left with catastrophic food shortages,” – Zelenskyi said.

“Of course, the partners are trying to convince the terrorist state to slow down the blackmail. But is it realistic? So far, the facts indicate that the Russian leadership is more interested in exacerbating the food crisis than in fulfilling the signed documents. And this, by the way, is the answer to everyone who talks about negotiations with Russia,” the president said.

“The grain corridor is a concrete example. There are now 218 pieces of evidence that Russia does not want any real agreements. 218 ships that are waiting for the opportunity to carry food under export contracts or enter Ukrainian ports,” he emphasized.

Tags: Ukraine, Russia, export, grain, war