In the coming weeks, Vladimir Putin will travel on a diplomatic mission to Turkey, his first trip to a nation that is a member of NATO since the conflict in Ukraine began.
Erdogan emphasised the significance of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which he called a “bridge for peace,” and told Putin that “no steps should be taken that will escalate tensions in the Russia-Ukraine war.” Erdogan also confirmed the visit.
But as Russia intensifies its use of force to stop Ukraine from exporting grain, it today assaulted Ukraine‘s biggest inland port, which is located across the Danube River from Romania. As a result, food prices around the world have increased.
As ships prepared to arrive at the port of Izmail to load up with Ukrainian grain in violation of a de facto blockade Russia reimposed in mid-July, the attacks destroyed buildings there and prevented them from doing so.
Oleksandr Kubrakov, the deputy prime minister of Ukraine, claimed that about 40,000 tonnes of grain that were bound for China, Israel, and nations in Africa were damaged by Russian drone assaults.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy posted on Telegram that “Russian terrorists have once again attacked ports, grain, and global food security.”
One of the major exporters of grains worldwide is Ukraine. After declining to renew a deal that had eased its wartime blockade of Ukrainian ports last year, Russia began attacking Ukraine’s agricultural and port infrastructure and has continued to do so for more than two weeks.
Since Russia’s blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports in mid-July, the port, which is across the river from NATO member Romania, has served as the primary alternate route for grain exports out of Ukraine.
After speaking with Erdogan, the Kremlin reaffirmed Russia’s need for rejoining the grain agreement: the implementation of a parallel agreement that would improve the terms for its own food and fertiliser exports.
These shipments are now immune from sanctions, which the West claims Moscow is attempting to thwart by endangering the world’s food supply.
Putin and Erdogan, according to Erdogan’s staff, decided that he will visit Turkey soon.
Putin, who is wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court, has made no official trips outside of the country this year and has only travelled outside of the former Soviet Union once since beginning his invasion, on a day trip to Tehran more than a year ago. Erdogan has long expressed the desire to welcome Putin and persuade him to resume the grain agreement.
Recent assaults on Ukraine’s grain infrastructure have been characterised by Moscow as reprisal for a Ukrainian attack on a Kerch Strait bridge to Crimea that was being used to supply Russian forces in southern Ukraine.
In a statement, American ambassador Bridget Brink denounced the strikes and listed recent Russian targets, including “Homes. Ports. cereal silos. historic structures. Men, women, and kids.
Round-the-clock and escalating Russian attacks on Kryvyi Rih, Kharkiv, Kyiv, and Kherson once again demonstrate Russia’s lack of interest in peace, disregard for the safety of civilians, and disregard for people across the world who depend on Ukrainian food.
According to Kyiv, the purpose of the strikes is to convince shippers and their insurance firms that Ukrainian ports are hazardous to resume exports, hence reinstating Russia’s blockade.
Before Russia withdrew from the Black Sea agreement, grain was exported mostly via Ukraine’s Danube river ports like Izmail, which have subsequently become the principal exit point. Grain is loaded onto barges and transported to Romania’s Constanta Black Sea port for further shipment.
While Moscow claims it will treat ships bound for Ukrainian seaports as potential military targets, Kiev wants international ships to arrive right there and load up.
Russia’s decision to renege on the agreement, mediated by the U.N. and Turkey, has prompted a warning from the United Nations about a potential food catastrophe in the world’s poorest nations.
According to Ukrainian officials, in nine days of strikes following the termination of the grain agreement, Moscow has attacked 26 port facilities, five civilian vessels, and 180,000 tonnes of grain.