KYIV — Ukraine has formally asked Israel to seize a cargo ship carrying what it says is stolen Ukrainian grain, escalating a diplomatic tussle between the two countries after Israeli authorities allowed a previous vessel with similar cargo to unload unchallenged at the port of Haifa. Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko said on Telegram on Wednesday that the vessel, Panormitis, was allegedly carrying over 6,200 tons of wheat and 19,000 tons of barley, “some of which was shipped” from Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine. The Panama-flagged bulk-carrier reached waters close to Haifa by 25 April, according to the marine traffic monitoring services.It has been waiting to dock as Ukraine-Israel diplomatic scandal escalated sharply over the past few days. Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Wednesday that Kyiv has officially addressed Israel through diplomatic and legal channels, “requesting action on the Panormitis vessel.” “The Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine has submitted a relevant request to the Israeli authorities based on a Ukrainian court ruling to arrest the vessel as part of the ongoing investigation.” Sybiha reiterated that the vessel is “suspected of carrying a grain cargo that was illegally transported from a closed port in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine in violation of international law and Ukrainian legislation.” Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko said that “the Ukrainian side is asking its Israeli partners to seize the vessel and its cargo, carry out a search, seize the vessel’s and cargo documentation, take grain samples and question the crew members.” Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar responded to Sybiha’s post on X less than 10 minutes later, slamming Kyiv for what he describes as “Twitter diplomacy”. “One would expect the submission of a legal request before tweeting,” Sa’ar said, adding that Kyiv “chose differently” for its “own reasons.” Sa’ar insisted that Kyiv submitted the arrest request “late” on Tuesday night and now is “following it up with another tweet.”“The request is now being examined by the relevant authorities.” A senior Ukrainian diplomatic source told Euronews that “if Israel responded to other requests via diplomatic channels, there would have been no need for tweets”. According to Euronews sources in Kyiv, Ukrainian officials have been calling on Israel not to purchase the grain, stolen by Russia in the occupied territories of Ukraine, for “at least one and a half months.” Ukrainian diplomatic sources also told Euronews that Israel was not commenting on the vessel itself or the nature of its cargo, and was instead focusing only on how the issue had been communicated on social media. “As none of this yielded any results, we decided to go public,” they said. Kyiv revealed a full timeline of its official diplomatic requests to Israel over two shipments of Ukrainian grain, stolen and sold by Russia. The first one was unloaded in the port of Haifa on 15 April, when the Russian-flagged bulk carrier Abinsk delivered nearly 44,000 tonnes of stolen Ukrainian wheat to Israel. Kyiv revealed that it first communicated its concerns regarding this vessel with Israel on 23 April, when the first meeting between Ukraine’s ambassador and Israel’s foreign ministry took place. Ukraine’s diplomats then delivered an official note regarding the vessel and its cargo of stolen Ukrainian grain.The diplomatic communication continued since that moment onwards. On 20 April, after Abinks unloaded in Haifa and departed, Ukraine received what it says has been the only official response. The foreign ministry informed Kyiv that Israel did not intend to take any concrete measures to stop the illegal trade or to seize consignments of stolen grain or the vessels that transported it, “citing the formal objection that the vessel had left Israeli waters and that it does not consider the evidence provided by the Ukrainian side to be sufficient.” Five days later, on 25 April, Ukraine’s embassy in Israel informed the officials about another vessel — the Panormitis, as it approached the same port in Haifa. On Tuesday, Kyiv summoned Israel’s Ambassador Michael Brodsky to urge action over the Panormitis.“This information was once again ignored,” Ukrainian officials said. An investigation by Israeli news outlet Haaretz found that at least four shipments of stolen Ukrainian grain have been unloaded in Israel this year. According to Kyiv’s estimates, at least 15 million tons of Ukrainian grain have been stolen by Russia since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022. Moscow has not commented on the legal status of grain collected in occupied areas, and the Kremlin declined to comment on the Panormitis on Tuesday, saying Russia would not get involved. President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday threatened sanctions against those attempting to profit from the shipment. The EU said on Tuesday it had approached Israel regarding a “Russian shadow fleet vessel” carrying stolen grain and was ready to sanction individuals and entities in third countries that helped to fund Russia’s war effort. — Agencies
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