french president Emmanuel Macron announced this Tuesday that he has proposed his counterpart Vladimir Putin vote a resolution in the UN to lift the Russian blockade of the port of Odessa and make it possible to export the Ukrainian grain blocked there. “I proposed, in the discussion we had with [el jefe de gobierno alemán] Olaf Scholz last Saturday, to President Putin that we take the initiative of a resolution in the United Nations to give a very clear framework to this operation,” he said after a European summit in Brussels.
Russia is currently imposing a blockade on the Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea, in particular Odessa, and some 20 million tons of grain stored in silos throughout the country are blocked. “The decision depends on an agreement from Russia and the guarantees it offers: in the face of demining [del puerto de Odesa, serán necesarias] security guarantees provided to Ukrainians to prevent them from being attacked,” Macron said. The Ukrainian government needs “legitimate security guarantees, and it is the United Nations framework that will allow us to do so,” he added. Macron highlighted the “important role of Turkey, given its responsibility in the Black Sea” and its contacts with Moscow.
Turkey
Putin had told his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan this Monday that Moscow is willing to work with Ankara to reopen maritime traffic, blocked as a result of the conflict in Ukraine. “Vladimir Putin highlighted the readiness on the part of Russia to contribute to the unimpeded maritime transit of goods, in coordination with Turkish partners. This also applies to grain exports from Ukrainian ports.The Kremlin said in a statement. The two leaders spoke by phone to “ensure safe navigation in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov,” according to the Kremlin.