at will take months to resolve even after any agreement.Its waters are shared by Bulgaria, Romania, Georgia and Turkey, as well as Ukraine and Russia.
"Sea mines have been laid in port approaches and some port exits are blocked by sunken barges and cranes," said a spokesperson with UN shipping agency the International Maritime Organisation, one of several bodies working on establishing sea passage for grain supplies.Global grain production is forecast to fall short of demand in the 2022/23 season, the International Grains Council says.
Russia's FSB intelligence agency also said in March mines had drifted into the Black Sea after breaking off from cables near Ukrainian ports, adding the mines were set by Ukrainian forces. Russia's defence ministry said on May 26 Mariupol harbour had been cleared of mines and urged foreign governments to"exert effective influence on the owners of the vessels in Mariupol port to remove them to their permanent mooring place".