Ukraine has proposed a mutual deal with Russia to halt attacks on civilian ships in the Black Sea, in an apparent effort to reopen a major grain export route, according to Reuters. Kyiv made the offer through a third party, and Moscow has not yet responded.
The reported proposal comes as Ukraine’s harvest season begins and commercial shipping from its ports is at a virtual standstill. The Black Sea route carries grain and other essential foodstuffs from both countries to global markets.
What the proposed arrangement would cover
The reported offer would seek to stop attacks by both sides on civilian vessels. Since July, Ukraine has effectively closed the route to commercial Russian shipping, while its drones have struck nearly 220 vessels in the Sea of Azov and Black Sea, including oil tankers, grain carriers and passenger ferries.
The campaign forced Russia to suspend shipping through a canal linking the Caspian Sea with the Sea of Azov through a Russian river network. The route passes through the Kerch Strait between occupied Crimea and Russia before connecting with the Bosphorus Strait in Turkey.
Related coverage: Civilian Deaths Reported Amid Ongoing Attacks in Ukraine and Russian-Occupied Areas.
Why the shipping route matters to Ukraine
Russia has simultaneously intensified attacks on Ukraine’s southern ports, severely affecting the country’s agricultural sector. About 90% of Ukraine’s grain and sunflower shipments leave through Odesa and the neighbouring ports of Chornomorsk and Pivdenne.
Ten sailors were killed in July shortly after the Turkish-owned grain carrier Golden Leo left Odesa. The victims included people from Syria and India; a further 16 port workers and sailors have died in other recent strikes, according to the source material.
The proposal follows escalating Black Sea attacks
The reported overture follows a 31 July phone call in which US Vice-President JD Vance asked President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to stop some attacks on the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, according to a separate Financial Times report cited in the source material. Vance reportedly said strikes on tankers carrying Kazakh oil were hurting US companies and destabilising oil prices.
More context: Iran Accuses Ukraine of Launching Fatal Attack on Caspian Sea Commercial Ship.
Ukraine has since refrained from attacking ships carrying Kazakh oil through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal, while continuing attacks on other targets in Novorossiysk. Zelenskyy said a recent combined assault hit Russian warships and two grain export terminals; Russian officials said three people, including a child, were killed.
A previous grain agreement ended in 2023
Turkey and the United Nations previously brokered the Black Sea grain initiative, which ran from July 2022 to July 2023. The Kremlin declined to renew it, saying western sanctions were damaging Russia’s agricultural sector.
Ukraine later reopened the route unilaterally, using sea drones against Russian ships in the north-western Black Sea. Most vessels in Russia’s Black Sea fleet moved from Sevastopol in occupied Crimea to Novorossiysk. The latest proposal has yet to receive a public response from Moscow.
Also read: Kyiv outlines battlefield gains as fighting continues across Ukraine.
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