The High Representative for Foreign Policy of the European Union, Josep Borrell, accused Russia on Thursday of causing a world food crisis by perversely attacking grain silos in the port of Odessa.
“For the third night, Russia bombs and destroys the port infrastructure of Odessa [Mar Negro] and grain silos. 60,000 tons of grain burned. [A Rússia] not only abandoned the agreement on the export of Ukrainian grain, but is burning [a produção]”said the head of the diplomacy of the European Union before the meeting of foreign ministers of the European bloc.
For Borrell, Russian actions against Ukraine could risk “a major food crisis around the world.”
“If these grains are not stored and destroyed, it means that there may be a shortage of food, of cereals, globally,” Borrell warned, after noting that the European Union’s foreign ministers will discuss the issue with his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmitri Kuleba, via videoconference.
Ukrainian authorities attribute the attacks on port infrastructure in Odessa to Russia’s recent withdrawal from the grain export deal.
To return to the pact, Moscow calls for the removal of sanctions on the export of Russian cereals and fertilizers to international markets, as well as the removal of the obstacles imposed on Russian banks and the “immediate” connection to the SWIFT bank transfer system.
In this sense, Borrell insisted on the European response that it must strengthen military support for Ukraine to help Kiev defend itself against Russian attacks.
“The large-scale attacks of the last three nights require a response from us. There can only be one response. Beyond rhetoric, provide more military resources,” he declared.
At the moment, according to EFE, the proposal on the application of 20,000 million euros for weapons destined for Ukraine in the coming years is being discussed.
Upon his arrival at the meeting, Borrell declined to confirm the values of the proposals, stating however that it is a “very important amount of money.”
“Ukraine does not need month-to-month support, but long-term support and continuous structural support,” he said.
Borrell’s proposal on support for kyiv should begin to be discussed in the coming months and will have to be approved by the 27 countries of the European Union.
“If the question were asked of the foreign affairs ministers, the answer would be more positive than that of the finance ministers,” ironized a diplomatic source to the Spanish news agency EFE before the start of the meeting this Thursday in Brussels.
Source: TSF
