President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited one of Ukraine's main Black Sea ports Friday, a week after a deal was struck with Russia, Turkey and the United Nations to create safe corridors for ships to export grains that have been trapped in the country since the war began five months ago.
"The first vessel, the first ship is being loaded since the beginning of the war," Zelenskyy said.
The complexities of the agreement and concerns about the safety of shipping crews has set the deal off to a slow, cautious start. It's been a week since it was signed, and no grains have yet left ports. But the sides are facing a ticking clock -- the deal is only good for 120 days. But he said Ukraine is waiting on the U.N. to confirm the safe corridors that will be used by ships navigating the waters, which have been mined with explosives. In the meantime, a ship at the port of Chernomorsk was being loaded with grains, he said.
They note, however, that U.N. agencies, such as the World Food Program, have already arranged to charter much of the grain for urgent humanitarian needs.
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