MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st August, 2023) Ukraine has reached an agreement with Croatia to use the country's ports on the Danube River and in the Adriatic Sea for the transit of Ukrainian grain after the termination of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Monday.
"We have agreed on the possibility of using Croatian ports on the Danube and the Adriatic for the transportation of Ukrainian grain. Now we will work out the most effective routes to these ports and make full use of this option," Kuleba said after a meeting with his Croatian counterpart Gordan Grlic-Radman during the latter's visit to Ukraine.
The Ukrainian minister also said that he had discussed with Grlic-Radman Croatia's further support for Ukraine. The parties have agreed on concrete arrangements, which will be implemented soon, Kuleba said.
Grlic-Radman also signed an agreement with United Nations World food Programme (WFP) Country Director in Ukraine Matthew Hollingworth, donating 1 million Euros ($1.1 million) to support a project to demine and release productive agricultural land in Ukraine, the UN agency said. Croatia's contribution is the largest ever donation to the WFP.
On July 18, the Turkey- and UN-mediated Black Sea Grain Initiative, which provided for a humanitarian corridor to allow exports of Ukrainian grain over the past year, expired, as Russia did not renew its participation in the deal. Moscow emphasized that the deal's component on facilitating Russian grain and fertilizer exports had not been fulfilled, specifically with regard to reconnecting Russian banks to SWIFT and unblocking the Tolyatti-Odesa ammonia pipeline.
The Russian Defense Ministry has said it would consider all ships sailing in the Black Sea to Ukrainian ports as potential military cargo carriers starting July 20, while countries under whose flags such vessels travel would be regarded as involved in the conflict on Kiev's side.
