Ukraine proposes to increase the number of “grain corridor” inspectors

In order to speed up the passage of ships through the “grain corridor”, Ukraine proposed to increase the number of inspection groups.

The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to Turkey, Vasyl Bodnar, told about this in an interview with Ukrinform.

“Now the russian side is really slowing down inspections of the ships themselves due to the insufficient number of inspection teams that can enter the ships. We proposed to increase their number. Both the Turkish side and the UN are supportive, while the russian side is holding back,” the diplomat said.

The ambassador of Ukraine to Turkey emphasized that currently the only option for increasing the number of inspection groups and speeding up the passage of ships through the straits is to increase the pressure of the negotiators on the russian side.

“The russian side is not interested, because it does not participate in this grain initiative, neither with ships, nor with grain, nor with anything else. Their representatives are only in the joint coordination center. We are trying to ensure that ships can export a much larger range of products, preferably without restrictions, and that the russian side cannot slow down or interrupt this maritime communication,” said Bodnar.

The diplomat also added that he understood that russia could stop the “grain corridor” by using its naval or air forces, so now it is important to use what is available and put pressure through intermediaries on the russian side to increase the number of inspection teams .