Ukraine refuses to demine the port of Odessa to allow grain exports because it fears Russian forces will use it to attack the city, according to Odessa regional administration spokesman Sergei Brasuk.
If Ukraine demining the country’s main ports, Russia “will want to attack, it dreams of landing troops,” the Ukrainian official said in a videotaped message to the Telegram.
“The Russian fleet will pretend to be withdrawing to annexed Crimea. But as soon as we demine access to the port of Odessa, the Russian fleet will be there,” he added.
The comments came shortly before Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discussed in Ankara with Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Çavuşoλουlu the establishment of sea lanes to facilitate the export of grain to the Black Sea.
At the heart of the talks is the possibility of Ukraine, a major world exporter of grain, exporting the crop that is blocked in Ukrainian ports due to the naval blockade imposed by the Russian fleet.
At the request of the UN, Turkey offered to help escort the convoys, despite the presence of mines, some of which have been abducted and located near the Turkish coast.
For Sergei Brasuk, Kyiv must be equipped with anti-ship missiles and ships accompanied by “NATO countries”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that the amount of Ukrainian grain that has been blocked by the war and now stands at 20-25 tonnes is likely to triple by the autumn to 75 million tonnes.
Russia is “ready” to guarantee the safety of ships sailing from Ukrainian ports, with the cooperation of Turkey, “Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov” assured “in Ankara today after the” constructive “talks held by the Turkish counterpart. Mevlüt Çavuşoλουlu, in whose opinion “the UN plan is reasonable and feasible”.
However, the director of the Ukrainian UGA Grain Traders’ Association, Sergi Ivashenko, said that Turkey did not have the necessary power to act as a guarantor.
Addressing an online conference of the sector in Kyiv, he said that it would take at least two to three months for the mines to be removed from Ukrainian ports and that Turkish and Romanian ships would be involved in the operation to guarantee the safety of ships and cargo.
“Turkey as a guarantor is insufficient force in the Black Sea to guarantee the security of the cargo,” said Sergi Ivasenko.
President Zelensky said this week that Ukraine had discussed with Britain and Turkey the idea of providing guarantees by a third-country navy for the safe passage of Ukrainian grain cargo through the Black Sea.
Source: Capital
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