Zelensky: food corridor effectively shut from both Ukrainian and Russian sides
At the YES conference on September 11, President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Black Sea food corridor is effectively blocked from both the Ukrainian and Russian sides. He framed the disruption as a global food-security threat on par with an energy crisis and said he had discussed resolving it with the leaders of Egypt, India, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Key points
- Zelensky said the Black Sea food corridor is effectively blocked from both sides.
- He raised the issue with the leaders of Egypt, India, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the UAE; Russia is negotiating with the same countries.
- He assured Ukrainians will not be left without food even in a full export blockade.
- He warned African and Asian importers will suffer most if both countries' grain is denied to them.
- He said decisions on an "energy truce" or unblocking the corridor are possible even without full peace.
- From July 22, Russian strikes suspended vessel entries to Ukrainian sea ports; in July alone Ukraine recorded 35 attacks on vessels in ports, 22 at sea and 67 strikes on port infrastructure.
- Bloomberg estimated the strikes could cost Ukraine around 2% of GDP.
Why it matters
Zelensky is recasting a bilateral shipping dispute as a global food-security crisis comparable to the energy crisis, and pointing to African and Asian importers as the main losers if both Ukrainian and Russian grain are denied to them. He is also signalling that partial, sectoral deals — an "energy truce" or an unblocked food corridor — are realistic even without a full end to the war, and that diplomacy with major grain importers is now central to that effort.
What happened
Speaking during the YES conference on Friday, September 11, President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Black Sea food corridor is effectively blocked from both the Ukrainian and the Russian side. He said he had raised the problem with the leaders of Egypt, India, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and noted that Russia is engaged with the same countries because the situation is a challenge for Moscow as well. Zelensky assured Ukrainians will not be left without food even in a full export blockade, but warned that domestic prices will fall and export will become unprofitable as logistics costs rise, hitting Ukrainian agrarians and business first. He framed food and energy security as the two main global challenges of today, and said an "energy truce" or unblocking of the food corridor could be agreed even without full peace.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
Ukrainian outlets centre Zelensky's framing of the corridor blockage as a global food-security threat on par with an energy crisis, with African and Asian importing states cast as the most exposed. The coverage highlights Russian strikes on port infrastructure and civilian vessels as the cause of the disruption, naming specific incidents and casualties — the strike on the vessel Golden Leo that killed 10 people, attacks on the tanker Gas Lisbon and the bulker Golden Rose, and the September 9 drone attack on the cargo vessel TEDY that killed two Azerbaijani citizens. Diplomatic activity is presented as active and coordinated: contacts with Egypt, India, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, Ukraine's mid-August proposal for mutual cessation of attacks on civilian objects in the Black Sea, and Turkey's prepared plan for safe grain passage. Domestic consequences for Ukrainian agrarians and business — falling prices, costly logistics and suspended port entries — are highlighted as immediate and concrete harms.
Where reporting differs
Sources differ on the state of the corridor itself: Zelensky's YES remarks describe it as effectively blocked from both sides, while an earlier August 24 statement of his said Russia had not succeeded in totally blocking the Black Sea corridor. Sources also describe the setting of his September 11 remarks inconsistently — one places them at an online discussion at the YES conference, another specifies the Yalta European Strategy (YES) meeting on Friday, September 11.
Background
From July 22, vessel entries to Ukrainian sea ports were temporarily suspended after Russian strikes on port infrastructure and civilian shipping. Ukraine recorded 35 Russian attacks on vessels in ports, 22 on vessels at sea and 67 strikes on port infrastructure in July alone; Bloomberg estimated the damage could cost Ukraine about 2% of GDP. Specific attacks named in the reporting include the strike on the vessel Golden Leo that killed 10 people, attacks on the tanker Gas Lisbon and the bulker Golden Rose that pushed shipowners to suspend work with Odesa ports, and a September 9 drone attack on the cargo vessel TEDY that killed two Azerbaijani citizens and wounded two others. On August 13, Ukraine transmitted through a third party a proposal for mutual cessation of attacks on civilian objects in the Black Sea; the next day Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow saw no point in returning to the 2022–2023 Black Sea Initiative or suspending hostilities in the Black Sea. On August 31, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Ankara had prepared a plan for safe grain passage; on September 4 Zelensky said Ukraine was preparing a solution with partners for safe food exports. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and EU High Representative Kaja Kallas have also coordinated efforts to keep the Ukrainian food corridor in the Black Sea working.