Ukraine is prepared to begin shipping grain from two Black Sea ports, but no date has been set for the first cargo, according to Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov on Friday.

In the southern port of Odesa, he informed reporters that 17 ships caught by a five-month Russian blockade of Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea were already filled with grain and that a further vessel was currently loading. By the end of this week, he wanted to see the first ships leave port.

The agreement that Russia and Ukraine reached in Istanbul last week is meant to solve the international food crisis that was made worse by Russia's invasion of its neighbour on February 24. Both countries are significant global wheat producers. "The Ukrainian side has completed all the necessary preparations for... the navigation of the Black Sea, to start exporting our grain products from our ports," Kubrakov said following the signing of the grain initiative in Istanbul.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's office said the president had visited the Black Sea port of Chornomorsk on Friday.  He was also quoted as saying that Ukraine was prepared to begin shipping grain and that Kyiv was looking forward to receiving approval from its international trading partners to launch the first cargo. The deal intends to ensure the secure entry and exit of grain shipments from the Russian-blocked ports of Odesa, Chornomorsk, and Pivdennyi. Russia accuses Ukraine of impeding deliveries by mining the port's waters.

Chornomorsk and Odesa are prepared to begin grain shipments, according to Kubrakov, who signed the deal on behalf of Ukraine. He expressed the expectation that Pivdennyi port will be ready by this coming week's end.

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