Putin ‘spits in UN’s face’
Kyiv reports rocket attack on Odessa port
7/23/2022 1:06 p.m
On Friday, Russia and Ukraine agree on an agreement that should enable vital grain supplies. The port of Odessa is one of the most important transshipment points. According to the Kiev government, Russian rockets suddenly hit there.
One day after agreement was reached on resuming blocked grain deliveries, the Ukrainian port of Odessa, which is important for exports, was hit by Russian missiles, according to Ukrainian sources. “The enemy attacked the port of Odessa with Kalibr cruise missiles. Two missiles hit the infrastructure of the port,” the military command staff in the south said on Telegram, among others. Two more rockets were shot down by the air defenses.
In doing so, Russian President Vladimir Putin “spit in the face” of the United Nations and Turkey, according to the Ukrainian side. UN Secretary-General António Guterres and the Turkish government brokered the grain agreement that Kyiv and Moscow signed in Istanbul on Friday.
The agreement regulates how Ukraine can deliver its grain, which is important for the world market, via the Black Sea through the Bosphorus. The agreement provides for secured transit routes for cargo ships from three Ukrainian ports in the Odessa area five months after the start of the war. Ukraine and Russia have also pledged not to attack ships on these routes.
“Putin is not to be trusted”
Ukraine’s foreign ministry called on the UN and Turkey to ensure Russia honors those pledges. The US ambassador in Kyiv called the attack “outrageous” and called for Russia to be held accountable. “The Kremlin continues to weaponize staple foods,” explains Bridget Brink Twitter.
Bundestag Vice President Katrin Göring-Eckardt agrees. “Putin is not to be trusted. The day after the grain agreement, he had the port of Odessa attacked,” she told the editorial network Germany (RND). “This is the next break with the United Nations. That cannot go unanswered,” demands the Greens politician. “Putin is deceiving Ukraine and the world community. We’ve been seeing that since 2014.”
25 tons of wheat are waiting for export
Russia and Ukraine are among the world’s largest grain producers. Before the Russian invasion began, they together provided about 30 percent of the world’s traded wheat. Among other things, the agreement is intended to enable the export of 20 to 25 million tons of wheat that is stuck in Ukrainian silos as a result of the war. After the deal, the price of wheat in trading markets fell to where it was before the Russian attack began.
The signing ceremony in Istanbul was a delicate act. The government in Kyiv had refused to sign the same document as the Moscow representative because of the Russian attack. Therefore, the representatives of both countries, the Ukrainian infrastructure minister Oleksandr Kubrakov and the Russian defense minister Sergey Shoigu, put their signatures under two separate but identical agreements. These were also signed by representatives of Turkey and the United Nations. UN Secretary-General Guterres and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attended the ceremony at Dolmabahce Palace.
The Russian Black Sea blockade had increasingly led to problems with the global food supply in recent months. According to the UN Food Program (WFP), the number of people around the world suffering “severe hunger” has increased by 47 million since the start of the Russian invasion.