Secretary of State Tony Blinken is praising the recent grain shipments out of Ukraine but says there is still a long way to go.
Blinken says the amount that has left Ukraine in the last week in no way compares to what has been sitting idle in storage for months. He says the ships that have left Ukraine’s ports are an important first step, but getting all of that stored grain to market is what will make a difference in the months to come.
“This is a good and important first step. We were pleased to see that the first ship did move. It does have 26-27,000 tons of grain, but keep in mind there are something like 20 million tons that are in silos and storage in Ukraine that’s been held back by the Russian blockade of Odesa up until now, and it needs to get out,” said Blinken.
10 ships have left Ukraine in the last week; the first one, Razoli, made it to its destination in Lebanon over the weekend.
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