A diplomatic rift has deepened between Ukraine and Israel after Volodymyr Zelensky accused Israel of allowing ships with “looted grain” by Russia to unload at its ports.
Kyiv is threatening sanctions insisting Israeli authorities “cannot be unaware” of the cargo entering their ports. Ukraine is preparing a sanctions aimed at “those directly transporting this grain and the individuals and legal entities attempting to profit from this criminal scheme,” Zelensky wrote on X.
The president said that “another vessel” carrying such grain had arrived in Israel” calling it “not legitimate business”, and insisted Israeli authorities “cannot be unaware” of the cargo entering their ports.
Zelenskyy stressed that Kyiv is “genuinely working to enhance security, including in the Middle East region” and added that he “expected Israel to respect bilateral relations and avoid actions that could undermine them”.
Earlier, Andrii Sybiha, Ukraine’s foreign minister, said Kyiv had summoned the Israeli ambassador to lodge a protest and request action.
Gideon Saar, Israel’s foreign minister responded to Sybiha’s X post arguing that diplomacy “should not be conducted via social media”, stressing that allegations require evidence and that no formal legal request had been submitted. Saar strssed that the matter would be examined in line with Israeli law.
Also Algeria, Türkeye, and Egypt have received grain from Russian-controlled parts of Ukraine, Kyiv Post reported on Tuesday.
A spokesperson from the European Commission said that the EU executive “has taken note of the reports” that vessels carrying stolen Ukrainian grain had unloaded at Haifa port in Israel and that Brussels had reached out to Israeli authorities on the issue. “We condemn all actions that help fund Russia’s illegal war effort and circumvent EU sanctions,” the spokesperson said and added that the EU “remains ready” to sanctions individuals and entities in third countries should need be.
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Source:
www.euractiv.com