Morawiecki: Russia can't be relied on to allow Ukrainian grain exports

"The day after the signing (of the agreement), the Russian armed forces... attacked Odesa," Mateusz Morawiecki told a news conference. on Wednesday. "It follows that such agreements cannot be considered fully credible, because unfortunately that is what Russia is like," the prime minister added.

Morawiecki was also asked if Poland's offer to create a rail corridor to move grain out of Ukraine. "We are ready to help in this export," he replied.

"This is a very important issue as lack of this export might cause a huge deficit in access to grain, to wheat in North Africa and the Middle East. And this in turn might lead to hunger, high infation and a deep economic crisis in those countries, contries of North Africa," he said, adding that said chain of events could also trigger mass migration to Europe and - as a result - tensions between Europe and Africa.

Polish Prime Minister reminded that Europe had already been forced to deal with a migration crisis a few years ago and that the continent would not like that situation to happen again. "Therefore, on the basis of grain transit, Poland is ready - and we're doing it all the time - to share its railway connections. However, it's important to realise that nothing can replace the capacity for grain export through Odesa and other Black Sea ports," Morawiecki stressed.

Russian missiles hit Ukraine's southern port of Odesa on Saturday, the Ukrainian military said, threatening a deal signed just a day earlier to unblock grain exports from Black Sea ports and ease global food shortages caused by the war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called the strike blatant "barbarism" showing Moscow could not be trusted to implement the deal.

The strikes on Odesa drew strong condemnation from the United Nations, the European Union, the United States, Britain, Germany and Italy.

The deal signed on Friday by Moscow and Kyiv and mediated by the United Nations and Turkey was hailed as a breakthrough after nearly five months of punishing fighting since Russia invaded its neighbour. It is seen as crucial to curbing soaring global food prices by allowing grain exports to be shipped from Black Sea ports including Odesa.

Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar on Wednesday unveiled a centre in Istanbul to oversee the export of Ukrainian grains, with the first shipment expected to depart from Black Sea ports within days.

The joint coordination centre (JCC) in Istanbul will oversee departures from three Ukrainian ports in which ships must circumvent mines, and will conduct inspections of incoming ships for weapons.

All vessels pass through Turkish waters and all parties appointed representatives to the JCC to monitor implementation of the plan. A total of 20 personnel from Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations will work side-by-side there.

The U.N., Ukraine and Russia have all said they expect exports to begin in a few days. But Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko said on Wednesday the deal could collapse if obstacles to Russia's agricultural exports are not promptly removed, Interfax reported.

Dozens of cargo ships have started preparing to depart from the three Black Sea ports blockaded by Russia after being stranded at sea for five months due to the ongoing clashes.