The UN Secretary General, António Guterres, today “strongly” condemned the Russian attacks on Odessa and other Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea, according to his spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric.
“These attacks have an impact far beyond Ukraine. We are already seeing the negative effect on global wheat and corn prices, hurting everyone, especially vulnerable populations in the ‘Global South,'” the spokesperson warned, who pointed out that the “destruction of infrastructure [pode] represent a violation of international humanitarian law.”
Dujarric noted that the Russian attacks also contradict commitments Moscow made under the understanding it signed with the United Nations to try to facilitate its own food and fertilizer exports, a parallel document to the Black Sea Grain Initiative that the Kremlin suspended this week. . . .
In theory, this memorandum is still valid and, the UN recalled, its text says that Russia “will facilitate the export of food, sunflower oil and fertilizers from the ports controlled by Ukraine in the Black Sea.”
On Wednesday night, Russia attacked Odessa for the third day in a row and the Mikolayiv region of southern Ukraine with cruise missiles and suicide drones that killed at least two civilians in both provinces and wounded 27 others.
Already in the attack on Tuesday morning, Russia destroyed infrastructure in the ports of Odessa and Chornomorsk – both part of the grain agreement – destroying 60,000 tons of food that should have been exported to China.
After suspending the Black Sea deal, Russia has said it will consider all ships bound for Ukrainian ports as potential arms carriers, and thus potential legitimate military targets.
The UN, for its part, reiterated today that it will continue to seek ways for food products and fertilizers from Ukraine and Russia to reach international markets, in order to maintain price stability and prevent an increase in hunger in the most vulnerable countries. .
The Black Sea Grain Initiative, agreed a year ago by Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations, has allowed the export of almost 33 million tons of food from three ports in southern Ukraine.
The Russian authorities have announced that they will only return to the protocol if its conditions are met, namely trade in their own agricultural products, which is hampered, they stress, by Western sanctions.
Russia’s demands also include the reintegration of its agricultural bank, Rosselkhozbank, into the SWIFT international banking system, the lifting of sanctions on spare parts for agricultural machinery, the unblocking of logistics and transport insurance, the unfreezing of assets and the reopening of Togliatti. – Odessa ammonia pipeline, which exploded on June 5.
Source: TSF
