2023-07-20 20:22:53
Kiev responds to Moscow’s threats and threatens ships heading to Russian ports in the Black Sea
Tensions have been renewed in the Black Sea this week, since Moscow’s withdrawal from the “Ukrainian grain export agreement”, and Kiev today, Thursday, denounced the warnings launched by Moscow, considering ships sailing to Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea as possible carriers of military shipments. “We deplore any threat to use force against civilian ships, regardless of the flag they fly,” Ukraine’s foreign ministry said.
A picture of a ship flying the flag of the “United Nations” in the port of Odessa, dating back to August 2022 (AFP)
In turn, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, through its channel on the “Telegram” application, also issued a warning, similar to the one launched by Russia, and announced that it would consider any ship in the Black Sea heading to Russian ports or to Ukrainian lands occupied by Russia, as possible “military ships”, starting from Friday. And the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said, in a statement, that “all ships sailing in the waters of the Black Sea in the direction of Russian ports and Ukrainian ports located on the territories temporarily occupied by Russia may be considered as carrying military goods with all the risks associated with this.”
On Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry said that it would consider all ships sailing to Ukraine to carry military cargo as likely, and that “the countries whose flags these ships fly will be considered parties to the Ukrainian conflict.”
Monday’s session at the “United Nations” to discuss the repercussions of terminating the work of the agreement (EPA)
The Ukrainian fleet was almost completely destroyed by the Russian invasion, but Kiev repeatedly attacked Russian ships in the Black Sea using naval drones. The Ukrainian army also announced that, in 2022, it sank the Russian cruiser Movska with anti-ship missiles. The agreement, which was negotiated under the auspices of Turkey and the United Nations, allowed ships loaded with grain to sail from Ukrainian ports through safe sea lanes.
“The intention to consider foreign ships as military targets violates Russia’s obligations, under international law, not only towards Ukraine, but towards all countries whose ships are engaged in peaceful navigation activity in the Black Sea,” the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said. She added that Russia’s statement does not have a legitimate military goal, but rather aims to threaten Ukraine and countries that are neutral.
Today, Thursday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called for the renewal of the “grain export agreement” to combat food insecurity in the world. Kuleba, who is on his first visit to Islamabad since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1993, said Russia had undermined global food security. His Pakistani counterpart, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, corroborated his remarks, saying he intended to discuss the matter with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Zardari said, “It is not only in our interest, but also in the interest of the world to re-establish the grain initiative.”
Shipment of Ukrainian grain from the Odessa region (EPA)
Kuleba’s two-day visit comes at a time of warming relations between Islamabad and Moscow, as Pakistan began importing oil from Russia earlier this year. The two ministers said they discussed economic cooperation, with a focus on specific arrangements related to food security. The agreement to export grain through the Black Sea ended on Monday after Russia withdrew, despite an offer by the United Nations to Russian President Vladimir Putin to facilitate the return of a Russian bank to the SWIFT system for international payments through banks, in return for extending the agreement.
“We had to find a way to export our grain to the global market,” Kuleba said, as quoted by “Archyde.com”. Kuleba said that the sea is the best way to transport grain and foodstuffs to the global market, which has seen a rise in commodity prices since the Russian invasion last year. The United Nations estimates that the grain deal has reduced global food prices by 20 percent.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba with his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in Islamabad, discussing the grain agreement (AP)
And the “White House” announced, on Wednesday, that Russia is studying the possibility of launching attacks against civilian cargo ships transporting Ukrainian exports of grain through the Black Sea, after that it accused the Ukrainian forces of launching these attacks. “The Russian army may expand its targeting of Ukrainian grain facilities, to include attacks against civilian cargo ships,” and “then accuse Ukraine of carrying out these attacks,” Adam Hodge, a spokesman for the US National Security Council, told AFP.
The European Union announced, on Thursday, that it had decided to extend its sanctions imposed on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, for a period of 6 months, until January 31, 2024. The European Council said, in a statement: “These sanctions, which were applied for the first time in 2014 in response to Russia’s actions that destabilize the situation in Ukraine, have greatly expanded since February 2022, in response to Russia’s unjustified military aggression against Ukraine.”
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