KYIV, Ukraine—Ukraine is preparing to send its first grain shipments since the start of Russia’s invasion under a deal aimed at easing a looming global food crisis.
The shipments, which Ukrainian officials said would leave in the next few days, will be the first test for a deal settled last week to allow Ukraine, one of the world’s largest grain exporters, to begin shipping some 20 million metric tons that the invasion has trapped in the country.
Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelensky
on Friday oversaw what he said was the first loading of a ship with grain in a Ukrainian-controlled port since the start of the war in February.
“We are ready to export Ukrainian grain,” Mr. Zelensky said in a statement posted online after his visit to the Black Sea port of Chornomorsk. “We are waiting for signals from our partners about the start of transportation. It is important for us to remain the guarantor of global food security.”
The first ships to depart would be those loaded before the start of the war but stranded as the Russian navy blockaded Ukraine’s ports, Mr. Zelensky said.
If successful, the deal will bring critical income to Ukraine as its economy buckles under the weight of Russia’s invasion. In addition to the grain in storage, some 65 million tons are expected from this summer’s harvest, with storage capacity growing scarce.
Ukraine’s crops have long helped to feed developing nations in Africa and the Middle East.
Photo:
Iva Zimova/Panos Pictures for The Wall Street Journal
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