Ukraine's top prosecutor said that Israel should seize the vessel which was carrying grain it claims to have stolen from Russian-occupied areas, on Wednesday. The shipment had sparked diplomatic tensions between the two countries.

On Tuesday, Israel and Ukraine traded accusations. Ukraine claimed that it had repeatedly asked Israel to take action regarding the vessel via diplomatic channels. Israel accused Kyiv's "Twitter diplomacy".

Ruslan Kravchenko, Ukraine's prosecutor general, said via Telegram that Panormitis was heading to Israel port Haifa, with grain, "some of which had been shipped" from Russian occupied regions of Ukraine. He said that the grain was loaded earlier from another vessel.

Kravchenko stated that the Ukrainian side was asking their Israeli partners to seize and seize cargo and the vessel, perform a search, seize cargo and vessel documentation, collect grain samples and question crew members.

Gideon Saar of Israel's Foreign Ministry, who had previously stated that Ukraine had not provided any evidence to support its claims, wrote in a letter published on X Wednesday that Kyiv?submitted their request to seize vessel?late Tuesday.

"One would have expected a legal request to be submitted before tweeting. You made a different choice for your own reasons. "The request is being reviewed by the appropriate authorities," wrote he.

DIFFERENT GRAIN SHIPMENTS AND SOUR DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS

Kyiv has protested Russian grain exports from the eastern Ukrainian regions that have been occupied by Moscow since its full-scale invasion in 2022 and from Crimea which was annexed to Russia in 2014.

Ukraine's president?Volodymyr Zelenskiy threatened sanctions on those who were trying to profit from this shipment. Kyiv summoned Israel’s ambassador for what it called Israeli inaction.

Moscow hasn't commented on the legal status for grain collected in occupied zones, and the Kremlin refused to comment on the Panormitis? on Tuesday, saying that Russia wouldn't get involved.

Kravchenko stated that more than 1.7 millions metric tons worth of agricultural products, valued at over 20 billion hryvnias (453,67 million dollars), were illegally?transferred since Russia's invasion. We could not verify the data immediately.

The Ukrainian foreign ministry announced on Tuesday that it has been in contact with Israel since March regarding another vessel, the Abinsk. It claimed this vessel was carrying grain stolen. The ship was allowed by Israel to leave and unload despite Kyiv’s requests.

Andrii Sybiha, Ukrainian Foreign Minister, wrote on X Wednesday: "We expect Israel to take this seriously and not respond with emotional statements."

(source: Reuters)