April 28 (Reuters) – President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday that Israel’s purchase of grain from occupied Ukrainian territory “stolen” by Russia “cannot be legitimate business” and that Kyiv was readying sanctions against those attempting to profit from it.
Kyiv considers all grain produced in the four regions Russia claimed as its own since invading Ukraine in 2022, and Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, to have been stolen by Moscow and has previously protested at it being exported to other countries.
Russia calls the regions its “new territories”, but they are still internationally recognised as Ukrainian. Moscow has not commented on the legal status of grain collected in them.
“Another vessel carrying such grain has arrived at a port in Israel and is preparing to unload,” Zelenskiy said on X, adding: “This is not – and cannot be – legitimate business”.
“The Israeli authorities cannot be unaware of which ships are arriving at the country’s ports and what cargo they are carrying,” added Zelenskiy.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Monday that Israel’s ambassador had been summoned over what he described as Israeli inaction in allowing shipments of grain to enter the country from Russian-occupied Ukraine.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar told Sybiha that Ukraine had provided no evidence that the grain was “stolen”.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on Tuesday, saying Russia would not get involved. “Let the Kyiv regime deal with Israel on its own,” he said.
Traders have told Reuters that it is impossible to track the origin of wheat once it is mixed.
UKRAINE PREPARING SANCTIONS PACKAGE
Zelenskiy said Kyiv has taken “all necessary steps through diplomatic channels”, but another ship had not been stopped.
“Russia is systematically seizing grain on temporarily occupied Ukrainian land and organizing its export through individuals linked to the occupiers,” Zelenskiy said.
“Such schemes violate the laws of the State of Israel itself,” he added.
Zelenskiy said Ukraine was preparing a sanctions package against those transporting the grain and the individuals and legal entities attempting to profit from the scheme.
Ukraine expected Israel to respect Ukraine and refrain from actions that undermine bilateral relations, he added.
(Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka, additional reporting by the Moscow bureau; Editing by Daniel Flynn and Alexander Smith)
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