by Mark Trevelyan (Reuters) The Kremlin said on Thursday that no deal had been reached to sell grain from Ukraine to Turkey – which Ukraine says Russia stole from it – but that work on a deal were continuing.

Moscow denies stealing the grain, but the US says there is credible information that Russia is “stealing” it.

Yevgeny Balitsky, a Russian-installed official in charge of Russian-occupied areas in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, said this week that grain had been transported from there to Crimea en route to the Middle East.

Asked if a deal had been reached to sell the grain to Turkey or a Middle Eastern country, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “So far, no deal has been reached. has been concluded, the work continues.”

Also read: Explained: UN plan for Ukrainian grain exports hits snags

He said he could not confirm Balitsky’s statement that the grain was sent by rail to Crimea, which Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014.

On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov challenged a Ukrainian journalist who asked him about the Russian “theft” at a press conference in Turkey, saying: “You (Ukrainians) are still so concerned about this that you can fly and from where, and you think everyone is doing that.

Ukraine is a major grain exporter to Africa and the Middle East and the disruption of those shipments following the Russian invasion is driving up prices, fueling an international food crisis.

Turkey has been pushing for an agreement between Russia and Ukraine on a plan to resume grain exports from Ukrainian ports. Lavrov said after his talks there that Russia had done its part and it was up to Ukraine to clear its ports so ships could get out to the Black Sea.

Ukraine exported most of its goods by sea, but since the Russian invasion on February 24, it has been forced to transport grain by train through its western border or through small river ports on the Danube. Read the full story

Russia, which calls its actions in Ukraine a “special military operation”, said on Tuesday that two major Ukrainian ports in the Sea of ​​Azov seized by Russian forces were ready to resume grain shipments. Read the full story

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Mark Trevelyan and David Evans)