KYIV, UKRAINE — Ukraine officials said on June 1 that Russia is again blocking the Black Sea Grain Initiative by halting the registration of ships to all Ukrainian ports, Reuters reported.

Russia told United Nations officials that it would limit registration to the port of Pivdennyi in Ukraine’s Odesa province.

The Black Sea deal, initially brokered in February 2022 by Turkey and the UN, has been extended three times, most recently on May 17 for 60 days. It has allowed the safe export of more than 30 million tonnes of grain and other foodstuffs from Ukraine, via its Black Sea ports. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 had halted exports of critical commodities from the region.

Russia has said it will halt the deal unless a separate agreement to overcome obstacles to exports of its own grain and fertilizer is fulfilled. Russia told the center in Istanbul that is coordinating ships in the initiative that it would limit registrations as long as ammonia is not exported.

Ammonia is a key ingredient for fertilizer and Moscow wants Ukraine to open a pipeline from the Russian city of Togliatti to the Ukrainian port of Odesa that it used before the war to ship ammonia to its global customers, the Associated Press reported.

Only 33 ships departed from Ukrainian ports in May, half the number compared to April, the UN said. The average daily inspection rate for ships had fallen to three. Exports in May reached 1.3 million tonnes of grains and other foodstuffs, less than half of the previous month.

Kyiv said 50 vessels were waiting for inspection in Turkish waters, ready to deliver 2.4 million tonnes of Ukrainian food abroad.

"The UN Secretariat has put forward practical suggestions to all parties at the strategic and operational level, keeping in mind the global benefits of the Initiative," said Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres. "We will continue our intense engagement with the parties towards the full resumption of operations and continuation of the Initiative."