The EU welcomes the departure of the first ship with grain from Odessa and calls for the “full” agreement to be implemented

BRUSSELS, Aug. 1 (EUROPE PRESS) –

The European Union expressed its satisfaction on Monday at the departure from the Ukrainian port of Odessa of the first ship loaded with grain since the start of the war in Ukraine and has urged that the “full agreement” signed between kyiv and Moscow be “implemented”, in order to resume exports from the country.

“The European Union welcomes the departure of the first commercial ship from Odessa”, said the spokesman for Foreign Affairs of the European Union, Peter Stano, who added that the EU expects the “implementation of the complete agreement and the resumption of exports Ukrainian ships to ports around the world.

In addition, Stano explained that Lebanon has been the first country to receive Ukrainian cereal exports because it is one of the most affected by the war due to its high “dependence” on exports from Ukraine.

“Lebanon is going through a multitude of crises: economic, financial and food,” said the community spokesman, who argued that these crises have been “magnified by Russia’s illegal military invasion of Ukraine” and the halting of exports since this territory.

The EU Foreign Affairs spokesman highlighted the importance of this step “after months of blockade by Russia and after Russia attacked this port one day after signing the agreement”.

“This is the first commercial ship to set sail from a Ukrainian port on the Black Sea since Russia’s unjustified aggression on February 24 and the blockade of Ukrainian grain-exporting ports,” Stano said.

In addition, he stressed that this “is the first step to mitigate the global food crisis that has been accentuated by Russia’s illegitimate aggression” as well as by the “blockade of the ports in Ukraine” as well as because of the destruction of crops in the country.

The first ship loaded with grain has left this Monday from the Ukrainian port of Odessa (south) since the start of the war in Ukraine. The ship began its journey at 8:30 a.m. to the Lebanese port of Tripoli, from where it will go to Istanbul on Tuesday.

The agreement between kyiv and Moscow went ahead after the parties agreed to a plan sponsored by the United Nations Organization (UN) to form a coordination center in the city of Istanbul with the aim of carrying out joint inspections in the entrances and exits of the ports and guarantee the security of the routes.

The deal states that a coalition of Turkish, Ukrainian and UN personnel will oversee the loading of grain onto ships in the Ukrainian ports of Odessa, Chernomosk and Pivdenyi, before sailing a pre-planned route through the Black Sea.