Russia warned on Wednesday that from now on it will consider all ships passing through the Black Sea bound for Ukrainian ports as potential carriers of military cargo and thus potential targets of war.
“Due to the end of the [de Cereais] of the Black Sea and the closure of the maritime humanitarian corridor, from 21:00 GMT [22:00 em Lisboa] all ships bound for Ukrainian ports in Black Sea waters will be considered potential military cargo ships,” the Russian defense ministry said.
“Consequently, countries whose flags belong to these ships will be considered involved in the conflict in Ukraine on the side of the Kiev regime”the ministry warned in a statement.
The ministry further stressed that several sea areas in the northwestern and southeastern parts of the international waters of the Black Sea have been declared temporarily hazardous to shipping.
Russia has already issued warnings about the withdrawal of maritime security guarantees in accordance with established navigational procedures.
Moscow on Monday suspended its participation in the grain deal that allowed Ukraine to export nearly 33 million tons of grain from the country’s three ports in nearly a year of the pact.
The Russian authorities have made it known that they will only return to the protocol if their conditions are met, namely trade in their own agricultural products, as they emphasize, harmed by Western sanctions.
Russia’s demands also include the reintegration of its agricultural bank, the Rosselkhozbank, into SWIFT’s international banking system, the lifting of sanctions on spare parts for agricultural machinery, the unblocking of transport logistics and insurance, the unblocking of assets and the reopening of the Togliatti Bank. Ammonia pipeline in Odessa, which exploded on June 5.
Kiev is now looking for alternatives with the UN and Turkey, also supporters of the agreement, to continue supplying its grain to countries in need and also for the economic security of Ukraine itself, which can once again hold back its ‘stocks’.
The agreement whereby Russia promised not to endanger the food security of countries most in need, not to attack ships transporting grain through the Black Sea or respective Ukrainian infrastructure, was withdrawn with the suspension of the agreement by the Kremlin.
In the past two days, Russia has bombed the port of Odessa and, this Wednesday, that of Chornomorsk, two vital infrastructures from which Ukrainian grain shipments departed for Turkey, where they were inspected before heading to their final destination.
Source: DN
