Russia has previously denied the accusations, saying it is
meeting all its obligations under the grain export deal.
Two top Ukrainian officials said in a joint statement that
"Ukraine is deeply concerned about the destructive actions of
Russia", which result in the delay of the work of the grain
corridor and "obstructing the Black Sea Grain Initiative in
general".
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Deputy Prime Minister
Oleksandr Kubrakov said Russia intentionally slowed down the
inspections, demanded unregulated documentation and looked for
groundless reasons to stop the inspection.
"Such a destructive Russian policy has resulted in a
systematic decrease of the freight turnover within the Grain
Initiative," the ministers said, noting that the world did not
receive 10 million tonnes of Ukrainian food in the last three
months.
The Ukrainian officials said Russia at the same time
increased uncontrolled traffic volume through its Azov and Black
Sea ports.
"Inspections of these vessels in the Bosporus are not held.
All that makes it possible for Russia to use its commercial
vessels for receiving military goods in order to continue the
war against Ukraine," the ministers said.
Russia said this week that it would be "inappropriate" to
extend the Black Sea grain deal unless sanctions affecting its
agricultural exports are lifted and other issues are resolved.
The agreement was extended by a further 120 days in November and is up for renewal again next month, but Russia has signalled that it is unhappy with some aspects of the deal and asked for sanctions affecting its agricultural exports to be lifted. Russia's agricultural exports have not been explicitly targeted by Western sanctions, but Moscow says blocks on its payments, logistics and insurance industries are a "barrier" to it being able to export its own grains and fertilisers. Ukrainian grain exports in the 2022/23 season, which runs through to June, have fallen 29% to 29.2 million tonnes as of Feb. 13, due to a smaller harvest and logistical difficulties caused by the Russian invasion. (Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Sonali Paul)
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