{"id":91154,"date":"2026-04-30T14:18:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T14:18:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/91154\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T14:18:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T14:18:15","slug":"israel-rejects-ukraine-stolen-grain-after-eu-sanctions-warning-euobserver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/91154\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel rejects Ukraine stolen grain after EU sanctions warning \u2013 EUobserver"},"content":{"rendered":"

Israel has barred a Russian grain ship after the threat of EU sanctions, as Moscow meanwhile enlisted US president Donald Trump to protect its 9 May military parade.<\/p>\n

The Israeli Grain Importers Association said on Thursday (30 April) it \u201chas been forced to turn away the Russian vessel [Panormitis] carrying a wheat shipment at the centre of the dispute with Ukraine\u201d and told the Russian supplier \u201cto find an alternative destination to unload\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Panormitis had been carrying some 6,000 tonnes of grain worth $7m (\u20ac6m) from occupied Ukrainian territory to Israel\u2019s port of Haifa, as part of wider Russian operations which have \u201cstolen\u201d 850,000 tonnes of grain so far, according to Kyiv.<\/p>\n

The Ukrainian foreign ministry had waged a public battle with Israel to stop the black market trade.<\/p>\n

And the EU was threatening Israelis involved in it with sanctions as late as Thursday in press briefings in Brussels.<\/p>\n

EU ambassadors in Israel had complained to the Israeli foreign ministry, said an EU Commission spokesman on Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe condemn all actions that help fund Russia\u2019s illegal war effort and circumvent EU sanctions. And indeed, we remain ready to target such actions by listing individuals and entities in third countries [Israel] if necessary,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The EU has already listed Chinese, Indian, UAE, and EU nationals in previous rounds of Russia sanctions.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It has also blacklisted extremist Israeli settlers for human rights violations and frozen \u20ac14m of cultural grants for what UN experts called Israel\u2019s \u201cgenocide\u201d in Gaza, but stopped short of trade sanctions<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIsrael is a state that abides by the rule of law \u2026 All Israeli authorities will act in accordance with the law,\u201d said Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa\u2019ar on X on Monday, referring to the grain-ship dispute.<\/p>\n

The Ukrainian request for legal assistance, submitted on Tuesday night, April 28, contained significant factual gaps and did not include any supporting evidence.<\/p>\n

The Israel Police reached out to the Ukrainian Prosecution with a request to provide additional information and\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014 Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) April 30, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sibyha welcomed Israel\u2019s decision on Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is also a clear signal to all other vessels, captains, operators, insurers, and governments: do not buy stolen Ukrainian grain. Do not become part of this crime,\u201d he said on X.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe continue to track this particular vessel [Panormitis] and warn everyone against any operations with it,\u201d Sibyha added.<\/p>\n

Putin\u2019s parade at risk<\/p>\n

But Kyiv and Brussels also faced fresh concerns on US loyalties one day earlier, when Russian president Vladimir Putin claimed Trump had agreed that Ukraine should not attack his military parade in Moscow on 9 May.<\/p>\n

The Kremlin\u2019s read-out of a 90-minute Putin-Trump call on Wednesday said Putin wanted a \u201cceasefire for the period of the Victory Day celebrations\u201d and that \u201cpresident Trump actively supported this initiative, noting that the holiday marks the shared victory over Nazism in World War II\u201d.<\/p>\n

An EU Commission spokeswoman said in Brussels on Thursday that Russia had twisted the memorial event<\/a> into a glorification of its war against Ukraine.<\/p>\n