First Ukraine grain ship arrives in Turkey

The first of several grain supply ships to leave Ukraine under a UN-backed deal lifting Russia’s blockade of the Black Sea arrived in Turkiye on Monday, AP has reported. The deal was struck to help ease an increasingly difficult global food crisis.

According to AP, the Turkey-flagged Polarnetdocked at Derince in the Gulf of Izmit after leaving Chornomorsk on 5 August with 12,000 tons of corn.

“This sends a message of hope to every family in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia: Ukraine won’t abandon you,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted. “If Russia sticks to its obligations, the ‘grain corridor’ will keep maintaining global food security.”

The war in Ukraine created a grain problem around the world with 20 million tons of grain trapped in the country. In July, Turkiye hosted a grain diplomacy meeting between Ukraine and Russia and both signed a breakthrough agreement, designed to help relieve the crisis.