The Ukrainian government is hoping to resume exports of grain from the Black Sea port of Odesa despite a Russian missile strike on Sunday, said Markiyan Dmytrasevych, the deputy minister for agrarian policy and food.
“We expect that, as announced, despite the incident that happened on Saturday, [export of grain] will start in the coming days. Hopefully we’ll see some early results this week,” Dmytrasevych told journalists on Monday.
The deputy minister went on to say the Russian strike had reduced the “enthusiasm” that local farmers had over the deal signed with the UN and Turkey in Istanbul last week.
“Scepticism towards this agreement was also felt by farmers and security experts even before the signing of the agreement. It is clear that no one trusts the Russians, no one believes them,” Dmytrasevych said. “Let’s see how this initiative will work in practice, and for how long. Because we understand that this work can be interrupted.”
“We hope for the agreements that we have reached with the UN and Turkey, and therefore, we hope for the UN and Turkey as guarantors in these agreements,” he added.
