The foreign ministers of the European Union (EU) meet this Thursday in Brussels to discuss the latest developments in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in particular the suspension of the agreement on the export of grain through the Black Sea.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, João Gomes Cravinho, participates in the meeting on behalf of Portugal.
The ongoing conflict in Ukraine is once again one of the main topics of the meeting of the heads of diplomacy of the 27 EU, a topic that has been part of all the meetings since the start of the Russian offensive, in February of the year past.
At this meeting, the counteroffensive that the Ukrainian Armed Forces have recently launched will be on the table and it is not progressing as much as expected. On the one hand, the defenses that the Muscovite troops have prepared in the occupied territory make it difficult to advance and, on the other hand, the countries that support Ukraine are struggling to respond to the ammunition needs.
But this time there is another issue that worries the 27 and that will be addressed: the suspension by Moscow of the agreement on the export of grain through the Black Sea.
Russia announced on Monday that it was going to suspend the agreement on the export of grains through the Black Sea from Ukrainian ports, arguing that the commitments made in relation to the Russian side were not fulfilled.
Signed in the summer of 2022 in Istanbul by Ukraine and Russia, under the mediation of the UN and Turkey, the agreement covers Ukrainian cereals and the export of Russian fertilizers and food products.
The meeting will also participate, as guests and by videoconference, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, and the Secretary of State of the United States, Antony Blinken.
At the meeting, European diplomats will also spend time talking about economic security and Turkey.
Before the start of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit, which took place last week in Lithuania, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan raised the bar and even conditioned Sweden’s accession to NATO if the EU resumed accession negotiations with Turkey.
Erdogan ended up agreeing to send Sweden’s accession protocol to NATO for ratification by the Turkish parliament, but Ankara gave the political signal and warned about impatience with the accession of Turkey, which has been a candidate for the community since 2005. of the block.
Source: TSF
