After a breakthrough agreement, brokered by the UN and Turkey and signed by representatives from Russia and Ukraine, the first ship holding more than 29,000 tons of corn has safely left the Ukrainian port of Odesa, headed for Lebanon. Now Russia needs to honor its part of the bargain.
“This is such an important step but it is a first step,” the British ambassador to Kyiv, Melinda Simmons, tweeted on Monday. “[Russia] now needs to honour their side of this deal and let grain ships pass safely. And they need to stop burning and appropriating [Ukrainian] grain.”
This is a critical first step since Ukraine exports around three-quarters of the grain it produces and much of the world depends on it. It is hoped that this will be one of many ships to safely leave the port, easing a global food supply crisis.