Ukraine says a cargo ship carrying stolen Ukrainian barley and flour has docked in Lebanon, and its ambassador warned the country against purchasing stolen goods.
Ukrainian Ambassador Ihor Ostash met with Lebanese President Michel Aoun on July 28 about the cargo ship, a Syrian-flagged vessel that has been sanctioned by the United States.
"Lebanese authorities promised to conduct an investigation," the Ukrainian Embassy told the AP. "We hope they will take other legal actions."
According to the embassy, the cargo vessel Laodicea docked in the port of Tripoli. It is carrying 5,000 tons of flour and 5,000 tons of barley suspected of having been taken from Ukrainian stocks, the embassy said.
The ship traveled from a Crimean port that is closed to international shipping, the embassy said, according to Reuters.
Russia has previously denied the allegations that it has stolen Ukrainian grain. An official from the Russian Embassy in Lebanon told Reuters it could not immediately comment.
The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned the Laodicea in 2015 for its affiliation with the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad.
Ukraine has accused Russia of plundering grain and steel from its territory since Moscow invaded the country in late February. The Ukrainian Embassy in Beirut did not provide details on how the barley was purportedly stolen from Ukraine.
Marine Traffic, a website that monitors the traffic and location of ships at sea, confirmed that the Laodicea docked off Tripoli on July 28.
The Laodicea was initially heading to Syria but was rerouted to Lebanon for unknown reasons. It was not clear whether it is offloading the cargo in Tripoli.
Ukraine has promised to export wheat to Lebanon, which is currently experiencing a food security and economic crisis that has slowed imports of subsidized wheat. According to the World Food Program, about half the population of Lebanon is food-insecure.
Lebanon used to import about 60 percent of its wheat from Ukraine, but those shipments have been disrupted by Russia's invasion and the blockade of Black Sea ports.
Turkish, Russian, and Ukrainian military officials were working on July 28 with a UN team at a Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul under a deal agreed by the four parties last week to begin shipping grain.
UN aid chief Martin Griffiths said he was hopeful that the first shipment from a Ukrainian Black Sea port could set sail as early as July 29, but admitted that "crucial" details for the safe passage of vessels were still being worked out.
