Shipping companies have notified the Ukrainian side of their readiness to continue exporting grain from Ukrainian ports, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with African journalists on Monday, press secretary of the head of state Serhiy Nikiforov said.

"Even without the Russian Federation, everything must be done so that we can use this "Black Sea corridor." We are not afraid. We were approached by companies that own ships. They said they were ready if Ukraine would let go, and Turkey would let us through - everyone is ready to continue deliveries grain," the president said.

He also noted that within the framework of the "grain initiative" two separate agreements were concluded, and none of them includes direct agreements between Ukraine and the Russian Federation.

"We had two agreements: the first - Ukraine, Turkey, the UN; the second - Russia, Turkey, and the UN. Therefore, when Russia says that it is stopping the "grain deal," it breaks its agreements with UN Secretary-General [Antonio] Guterres and Turkish President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan. Not with us. We did not have any agreements with them," Zelenskyy said.

The president announced the instruction to the Foreign Ministry to prepare official signals for the UN and Turkey to respond about their readiness to continue the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

"For Russia, this is a format of dumping on the market of grain, agricultural products in order to block Ukraine and be the only major exporter from this region. It is absolutely clear: in order to solve their political issues, there is pressure, and it was their companies who made money. Put pressure on the countries of Africa, Asia, and the European continent. They had the same thing with energy: with gas, with energy resources, with oil," Zelenskyy added.