(Reuters) – Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday that it would take one to three months to repair the damaged Togliatti-Odesa ammonia pipeline.
Moscow earlier accused “Ukrainian saboteurs” of blowing up a section of the pipeline in Kharkiv region in eastern Ukraine. Kyiv has blamed Russia for repeatedly shelling it.
The ammonia pipeline, the world’s longest, may be key to the renewal of the Black Sea grain export deal.
Moscow has said it will limit the number of ships allowed to travel to Ukraine’s Pivdennyi port near Odesa under the deal until the pipeline is restarted. It has been shut since Russia invaded Ukraine last February.
“The ammonia pipeline was one of the linchpins of the implementation of the agreements made in Istanbul on July 22, The (pipeline) was key to global food security,” Zakharova said.
(Reporting by Reuters; editing by Jon Boyle and Jason Neely)
