Ukraine’s Sea Ports Administration has started preparing the ports of Odesa, Chornomorsk and Pivdennyi to resume work, following the Initiative for the export of grain signed in Istanbul, the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority stated.
On July 23, Russia launched a missile attack on Odesa port, less than a day after the deal was signed.
“It took less than 24 hours for the Russian Federation to launch a missile attack on the port of Odesa to question the agreements and promises it made to the UN and Türkiye, signed yesterday,” Ukraine’s MFA commented then.
Yesterday New York Times cited an unnamed senior UN official as saying that Russia may not have technically violated the grain deal, since it did not pledge to avoid attacking the parts of the Ukrainian ports that are not directly used for the grain exports.
Ukraine’s Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry spox Oleh Nikolenko said that in its response to Ukraine, the UN assured that the anonymous source’s off-the-record comment to New York Times, doesn’t reflect the UN position. Only UN Secretary General Antonio Gutteres’ statement, in which he condemned the attack, does.
