Amid global concerns over the food crisis, the first ship loaded with 7,000 tons of grain left the port of Berdyansk in Russian-occupied Ukraine. The ship was accompanied by the Russian navy, as announced by the Moscow authorities on Thursday (30).
“After being stopped for several months, the first merchant ship has left the Berdiansk commercial port, 7,000 tons of grain is going to friendly countries,” Evgeny Balitsky, head of the pro-Russian administration in the region, said via Telegram.
“The cargo ship’s security is provided by the Black Sea Fleet’s naval military base in Novorossiysk,” the same source said.
Ukraine accused Russia of stealing wheat crops from Russian-occupied areas in southern Ukraine to sell them illegally on the international market. Moscow denies the accusation.
Berdiansk, a port located on the Sea of Azov, was conquered intact by the Russian Army at the beginning of the offensive. The plant is located in the largely Russian-occupied Zaporizhia region and the neighboring Kherson region.
risk of famine
Launched on February 24, Moscow’s attack on Ukraine threatens to cause a worldwide food crisis. Ukraine, one of the main grain exporting countries, still cannot send the harvest from the ports under its control.
Russia has pledged that it will allow Ukrainian ships loaded with food products to leave ports if the Ukrainian army removes mines placed on the sea lanes.
Kyiv does not accept this condition, fearing that the Russian army, which has already lost control of the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov region, will launch an attack on Ukraine’s Black Sea coast.
Attempts to reach an agreement involving Turkey and the UN have so far yielded no results.
Russia, for its part, cannot export its agricultural production due to the sanctions imposed by the West in retaliation for the attack on Ukraine. Moscow has established “military and civil administrations” in the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions and is preparing to annex these regions, as in Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in 2014.
Ukraine: Putin criticizes NATO ‘imperialism’
On the last day of the NATO summit in Madrid, Spain, the Organization promised to support Ukraine as much as necessary in the face of Russia’s “oppression”. Russian President Vladimir Putin criticized the Alliance’s “imperialist ambitions”.
On the sidelines of the meeting in the Spanish capital, London and Washington strengthened their military and economic assistance to Ukraine.
“This is a special, transformational summit, the Alliance is changing its strategy in response to Russia’s aggressive anti-European policies,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said after asking NATO countries to accelerate delivery of missile defense systems to Ukraine. and significantly increasing the pressure on the terror state”.
In a joint statement, NATO member states adopted a new aid plan that includes the “delivery of non-lethal military equipment” and strengthening Ukraine’s defenses against cyberattacks.
(with information from AFP)
source: Noticias
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