[Witness spoke in Ukrainian, interpreted as follows:]
Negotiations are currently taking place between the United Nations and Russia. Turkey is also partaking in these discussions. They're talking about how to open Ukrainian ports and lift the blockade. We've directed our proposals from Ukraine as to how we see it happening. We're hoping that this next week we'll get some feedback as to next steps or next meetings, but this is a process. It takes time, and no one is certain when it will lead to results and when it will be completed.
In my view, the proclamations that the Russians make and their actions are totally different things. We've seen Russian ministers stating that they are not against exporting Ukrainian grains and that they will not be preventing Ukraine from doing this, but at the same time, we see the missile attacks against Ukrainian ports that are used for agriculture shipments, as well as missile attacks and shelling of the bridges that are used for moving agricultural cargo. Ninety percent of cargo is agricultural. The Russians know that, and yet they are attacking it with missiles and shelling.
We have to be mindful of that when we hear Russians stating that they will not prevent Ukraine from exporting agricultural goods and ships from Ukraine. It's just talk. Until Russian ships move away from Ukrainian ports, international shipping lines will not be sending their ships to Ukraine or to Ukrainian ports because of the insurance cost, because of different circumstances. It's a very difficult situation.
Prior to the war, we were sending 200 ships from Ukrainian ports. In current circumstances, it may be 10 or 15 ships a month, which is a very small number. It's like a symbolic process that will not resolve food shortages for the world or Ukrainian exports.
My opinion is that Russians are making loud statements, but at the same time their actions go against those statements, and we cannot really trust the Russian statements. World business organizations and governments will not put much trust in Russian statements, and they will only monitor and pay attention to actual actions on the ground.