UN Coordinator Informed About Russia’s Concerns Regarding Grain Initiative - Spokesperson

UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) - Russia has informed the UN coordinator at the Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul (JCC), which controls the transportation of Ukrainian grain, about its concerns regarding the safety of civilian ships traveling under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a JCC spokesperson said.

On Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry said that Russia was suspending its participation in the grain deal following Ukraine’s drone attack targeting vessels of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol.

"The United Nations Coordinator for the Black Sea Grain Initiative, Amir Abdulla, was notified today by the delegation of the Russian Federation to the Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) of its concerns about the safety of movements of merchant vessels under the Black Sea Grain Initiative. Mr. Abdulla brought this to the attention of the Turkish and Ukrainian delegations to the JCC," Ismini Palla, a UN spokesperson for the Black Sea Grain Initiative, said in a Saturday statement.

According to the release, the JCC was unable to reach an agreement on the movement of inbound and outbound vessels on Sunday, October 30.

"The JCC is reviewing recent developments, assessing the impact on JCC’s operations and is discussing next steps," Palla said, adding that there are currently "more than ten vessels both outbound and inbound waiting to enter the corridor."

According to the UN spokesperson, on Saturday, nine vessels (five outbound and four inbound) were able to safely transit the maritime humanitarian corridor established by the JCC.

Russian deputy envoy to the United Nations Dmitry Polyanskiy said on Saturday that Russia had requested a United Nations Security Council meeting on Monday to discuss Ukraine's drone attack on ships and infrastructure of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol that pushed Moscow to suspend its participation in the grain deal.

Representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Lucile Marbeau told Sputnik on Saturday that the ICRC hopes that the parties to the grain deal will reach a new agreement after Russia suspended its participation.