The cargo ship Alppila, carrying 18,000 tons of Ukrainian corn, arrived at a Spanish port in the northwest of the neighboring country before dawn on Monday. The novelty lies in the fact that this is the first batch of Ukrainian grain delivered by sea to the north-west of Spain along a new sea route opened in the Baltic Sea in order to avoid the blockade of Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea by the Russian fleet.
Ukrainian Deputy Minister Dmytro Senik confirmed in a statement to Reuters news agency that Ukraine has established two new routes for grain exports through Poland and Romania. The first step is to try to avoid a global food crisis.
A Ukrainian government spokesman said on Sunday that Kyiv is also in talks with the Baltic states to establish a third export route that brought Ukrainian corn to Spain on Monday. However, the Ukrainian deputy minister did not specify how much grain has already been transported and how much food will be transported in the future.
“These routes are not ideal, as they contain narrow passages, but we are doing our best to develop them as soon as possible,” Dmitry Senik explained. If confirmed, the decision could help alleviate a global food security problem that has escalated since a large-scale Russian invasion halted Ukrainian grain exports across the Black Sea. Widespread shortages began to be felt, and food prices rose sharply, especially in the southern hemisphere, where many countries depend on Ukrainian wheat.
Ukraine is the fourth largest grain exporter in the world. Currently, about 30 million tons of grain are stored in Ukraine, which the government is trying to export by road, river and rail.
Russia blocks maritime exports, blocks Ukrainian ports and sea lanes in the Black Sea, and continues to launch missile attacks on grain elevators and railway infrastructure.
O website “New Voice of Ukraine” argues that the Kremlin wants to increase hunger in African countries in order to trigger a wave of migration to Europe, forcing EU countries to accept more migrants.
Senior Kremlin officials demanded the lifting or relaxation of sanctions against the Russian Federation in exchange for the unblocking of Ukrainian ports. Some countries, such as the United States of America, have flatly rejected this hypothesis.
