UN distances itself from "source" who defended Russia’s right to strike Odesa port

EUROPEAN PRAVDA – SUNDAY, 24 JULY 2022, 14:46

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine said that the UN has distanced itself from a comment made by an unnamed official who claimed that Russia has a right to fire on the seaport in Odesa as long as it does not strike targets involved in grain exports.

Source: Oleh Nikolenko, spokesman for the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as cited in European Pravda

Details: Nikolenko’s statement came in response to a New York Times article which he called "controversial".

"Allegedly an unnamed source in the UN stated that Russia’s missile strike on the port of Odesa may not have technically violated the grain deal which has just been signed in Istanbul. Apparently, Russia did not pledge to avoid attacking the parts of the Ukrainian ports that are not directly used for the grain exports. To put it mildly, we were surprised by this comment," Nikolenko noted.

He underscored that the unnamed official’s comment contradicts the statement released by UN Secretary General António Guterres, who has unequivocally denounced the strikes on the port of Odesa.

Nikolenko added that the international community has also been unanimous in its response, agreeing that Russia has violated its obligations to ensure the safe functioning of the port infrastructure used for grain exports.

The Ukrainian foreign ministry immediately asked the UN for a clarification of its position. Today, the UN assured Ukraine that the unofficial comment which the "unnamed source" gave to The New York Times does not represent the UN’s official position.

"Only the statement made by Secretary General Guterres represents the organisation’s position," Oleh Nikolenko said.

"That’s the problem with these unnamed sources: they’ve introduced a controversial narrative and now bear no responsibility for it. Whether this was done on purpose or not is an open question," the foreign ministry spokesman added.

Previously: 

• Following the Russian missile attack on the port of Odesa on the morning of 23 July, UN Secretary General António Guterres made a statement in which he unequivocally condemned the attack.
• Bridget Brink, the US Ambassador to Ukraine, called the attack "outrageous" and said that the Kremlin "continues to weaponise food".
• The EU and a number of its member states also denounced the attack.
• Russia has come up with several different excuses for the missile strike on the port of Odesa, some of which stated that there was a Ukrainian military boat in the area, others that there were Harpoon missiles, and still others that the Russian missiles were targeted at both the military boat and the Harpoon missiles.