KYIV, May 9 (Reuters) - Ukraine has alternative ways of
transporting grain if a deal on safe Black Sea exports is not
extended on May 18, and would not see that outcome as an
"apocalyptic scenario", its agriculture minister said.
Ukrainian Black Sea ports were blockaded after Russia's
invasion last year, but access to three of them was cleared last
July under a deal between Moscow and Kyiv that was brokered by
the United Nations and Turkey.
Moscow has threatened to quit the agreement on May 18 unless
a list of demands is met to remove obstacles to Russia's own
grain and fertiliser exports.
"We do not envisage any apocalyptic scenario due to a
million circumstances. Ukrainian farmers and Ukrainian traders
have shown that they can do a lot, and a lot of (export) routes
can be laid," Agriculture Minister Mykola Solsky was quoted by
his ministry as saying late on Monday.
"There are several scenarios that will be involved in the
worst-case scenarios," he said, giving no more details.
The United Nations said on Monday that so far nearly 30
million metric tonnes of grain and foodstuffs had been exported
from Ukraine under the Black Sea deal, including nearly 600,000
metric tonnes of grain in World Food Programme vessels for aid
operations in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Yemen.
Russia's state-owned RIA news agency quoted Russian Deputy
Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin as saying a high-level
four-way meeting on the Black Sea grain deal would take place in
Istanbul on May 10-11.
Ukraine also exports grain via Danube River ports and has
said previously that what is known as the Danube Cluster offers
a viable alternative export route.
(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
pavel.polityuk.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
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