This is Russia's playbook to turn food into weapon – Blinken on Russian attacks on ports
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has condemned the latest series of Russian strikes on Ukrainian ports on the Danube River, which play a key role for grain exports, stressing that Russia is trying to block Ukrainian exports by turning food into weapons.
Source: European Pravda
Quote: "This is Russia’s playbook: strangle Ukrainian grain exports, weaponize food, and make hungry people pay the price."
Russia continues its attacks on Ukraine's vital Danube ports, systematically destroying civilian infrastructure to prevent Ukrainian grain from feeding the world. This is Russia's playbook: strangle Ukrainian grain exports, weaponize food, and make hungry people pay the price.
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) September 8, 2023
Details: Blinken stressed that Russia continues to systematically destroy infrastructure in ports on the Danube River, important for the export of Ukrainian grain to world markets, after the Kremlin's withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
Background:
- Prior to that, Blinken had a conversation with the head of the Romanian Foreign Ministry. They discussed the investigation into the wreckage of the UAV found on the Romanian bank of the Danube River after the Russian attacks on Ukrainian territory.
- Diplomats also discussed additional cooperation to maintain airspace security, including the future rotation of additional US F-16 fighter jets to strengthen NATO's airspace patrol mission in Romania.
- In addition, on Friday, the German newspaper Bild published an article claiming that the UN Secretary General is conducting secret negotiations with Moscow regarding the restoration of the "grain agreement" in exchange for sanctions concessions.
- Oleh Nikolenko, the spokesman for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, emphasised the unchanged Ukrainian position regarding the fact that the easing of sanctions against the Russian Federation would lead to new blackmail from the Kremlin.
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