Ukrainian Foreign Ministry responds to Russian strike on Odesa: This is Putin spitting in the face of the UN Secretary-General and Erdoğan

IRYNA BALACHUK — SATURDAY, 23 JULY 2022, 12:30

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said that this morning’s missile strike by the Russians on the port of Odesa calls into question the Ukrainian grain export agreement which was signed the day before.

Source: Oleh Nikolenko, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on Facebook

Quote from Nikolenko: "It took less than 24 hours for the Russian Federation to launch a missile strike on the territory of the city of Odesa to question the agreement and the promises it made to the UN and Turkey in the document signed yesterday in Istanbul.

The Russian missile is Vladimir Putin spitting in the face of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Turkish President Recep Erdoğan, who made a huge effort to reach the deal, and to whom Ukraine is grateful."

Details: Nikolenko said that Ukraine emphasised the need for rigorous implementation of the agreements on resuming the safe export of Ukrainian agricultural produce via the Black Sea from three ports: Odesa, Chornomorsk and Pivdennyi (formerly Yuzhny).

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is calling on the UN and Turkey to ensure that Russia complies with its obligations with regard to the safe functioning of the grain corridor.

"If the agreements reached are not adhered to, Russia will bear full responsibility for intensifying the global food crisis," Nikolenko concluded.

Background: 

•       On the morning of 23 July, explosions rang out in Odesa and smoke was visible after the invaders’ attack. Member of Parliament Oleksii Honcharenko reported that a fire had broken out in the port of Odesa.
•       On 22 July, at the Dolmabahçe Palace in Istanbul, representatives of Ukraine and Russia signed an agreement on the establishment of a mechanism for the export of Ukrainian grain from Black Sea ports.
•       Ukraine and Russia did not sign the same document – Turkey and the UN signed two separate agreements with Kyiv and Moscow. Ukraine was represented at the signing of the agreement by Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov, and Russia by Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu.
•       According to a senior UN official, the agreement will initially be valid for 120 days with an option to extend, and will not provide for further demining of ports or nearby waters by Ukraine.