Kiev Reaffirms Pledge Not To Use Grain Corridors For Military Purposes - Foreign Minister

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd November, 2022) Kiev has reaffirmed its commitment not to use humanitarian corridors established for the export of Ukrainian grain under the deal with Russia, for military purposes, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told Spanish broadcaster Cadena SER on Thursday.

Moscow suspended its participation in the grain deal on October 29 after Ukraine attacked Russian military and civilian vessels in the Black Sea. On Wednesday, Russia resumed its participation in the deal after security guarantees were received from Ukraine under the mediation of Turkey and the United Nations. Earlier on Thursday, Ankara said that the shipping along the grain corridors had completely returned to normal.

"We have never used the green corridor for military purposes, and we are ready to repeat it. And this is what we have done: we have said that we do not plan to use this corridor for military purposes," Kuleba told the broadcaster.

The Ukrainian foreign minister said that the guarantees given by Ukraine were "just Russia's way of saving its face." Moscow resumed its participation in the grain deal not because "someone gave it some guarantees, but because there was a large amount of behind-the-scenes diplomacy on the part of the UN secretary-general and the Turkish president," Kuleba added.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said on social networks that Kiev had not made any additional commitments under the grain deal as part of the security guarantees.

Russia and Ukraine signed a deal brokered by Turkey and the UN in Istanbul on July 22. The series of documents lifted restrictions on supplies of Russian products for export and provided for Moscow's assistance in exporting Ukrainian grain, food and fertilizer from the ports of Odesa, Chornomorsk and Yuzhne through the Black Sea. The deal will expire on November 19.