NATO Chief Stoltenberg says Greece offered its ships to transport grain from Ukraine

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced on June 30 that Greece is willing to provide ships to help export grain from Ukraine's Black Sea ports that have been closed by Russia. Further, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis confirmed the NATO chief's announcement saying that his country plays a special role in this effort because it controls the world's largest merchant fleet.

"Greece announced that they are ready to make available ships to get the grain out of Ukraine," Stoltenberg said during a press briefing on the last day of the NATO summit in Madrid.

Mitsotakis informed the reporters, "Greece, once again, is offering to help and support any effort made, under the auspices of the United Nations, in order for the grain currently trapped in Ukraine, primarily in Odesa, to leave Ukraine and eventually end up in the countries that need it today."

Further, according to the region's Moscow-appointed official, a fleet carrying 7,000 tonnes of grain sailed from Ukraine's occupied port of Berdyansk on June 30, marking the first grain shipment since the start of hostilities. The ships and boats of the Black Sea Fleet's Novorossiysk naval base, according to Yevhen Balitsky, the head of the Zaporizhzhia region's military-civilian administration, ensured the cargo ship's safety.

Ukraine has accused Russia and its allies of stealing its grain

Berdyansk is a port city in southeastern Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region. Ukraine has accused Russia and its allies of stealing its grain, contributing to a global food shortage caused by the suspension of grain exports from Ukrainian ports. The southern Ukrainian regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia have been largely under Russian control since the first weeks of Moscow's invasion, and are now being forcibly integrated into Russia's economy.

Ukraine is a significant global wheat exporter, accounting for 9% of the global market. It also controls 42% of the global sunflower oil market and 16% of the global maize market. While global grain prices continue to rise, between 20 and 25 million tonnes of wheat are stuck in Ukraine due to a Russian blockade of Black Sea ports and Russian and Ukrainian mines along the coast.

The UN is leading efforts to establish a "grain corridor" for tankers departing from Odesa and other Ukrainian ports, with a Turkish naval escort. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, on the other hand, has stated that Ukraine's Black Sea ports must be cleared of mines.