April 28 (Reuters) – Ukrainian 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.
“Another vessel carrying such grain has arrived at a port in Israel and is preparing to unload,” Zelenskiy said on X. “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,” he added.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Monday that Israel’s ambassador had been summoned to his ministry 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 to support allegations that the grain was “stolen”.
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.
Russia refers to the four regions as its “new territories”, but they are still internationally recognised as Ukrainian.
“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 that Ukraine expected Israel to respect Ukraine and refrain from actions that undermine bilateral relations.
(Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka; Editing by Daniel Flynn)