KYIV —
Russian missiles hit Ukraine’s port of Odessa
Saturday, in what Kyiv called a “spit in the face” of a day-old deal between
the warring sides to resume cereal exports blocked by the conflict.
اضافة اعلان
The Ukrainian military said its air defenses
had shot down two cruise missiles but two more hit the port, threatening the
landmark agreement hammered out over months of negotiations aimed at relieving
a global food crisis.
The Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman said
the strike was “a spit in the face” by
Russian leader Vladimir Putin against
the deal brokered by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and UN chief
Antonio Guterres.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
claimed the strikes on Odessa showed Moscow could not keep its promises.
“This proves only one thing: no matter what
Russia says and promises, it will find ways not to implement it,” he said
during a meeting with US lawmakers, according to a statement from the
presidency.
Odessa is one of three export hubs designated
in the agreement and Ukrainian officials said grain was being stored in the
port at the time of the strike although the food stocks did not appear to have
been hit.
Guterres — who presided over the signing
ceremony on Friday — “unequivocally” condemned the attack, his deputy spokesman
said, and urged all sides stick to the deal.
“These products are desperately needed to
address the global food crisis and ease the suffering of millions of people in
need around the globe,” he said.
The
EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell
directly blamed Russia for the strikes.
“Striking a target crucial for grain export a
day after the signature of (the) Istanbul agreements is particularly
reprehensible and again demonstrates Russia’s total disregard for international
law and commitments,” he said.
UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the
attack was “absolutely appalling” and “completely unwarranted”.
There was no official comment from Moscow but
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Russia had denied carrying out the
attack.
“The Russians told us that they had
absolutely nothing to do with this attack and they were looking into the issue
very closely,” Akar said in comments to state news agency Anadolu.
“We will continue to fulfil our
responsibilities under the agreement we reached yesterday,” he added.
Regional governor Maksym Marchenko said the
strikes left people injured and damaged port infrastructure in Odessa, without
specifying the number or severity of the injuries.
20
million tonnes of wheat
The first
major accord between the countries since the February invasion of
Ukraine aims
to ease the “acute hunger” that the UN says faces an additional 47 million
people because of the war.
Hostility between Moscow and Kyiv spilled
over into Friday’s signing ceremony in Istanbul — delayed briefly by disputes
about the display of flags around the table and Ukraine’s refusal to put its
name on the same document as the Russians.
Ukraine had entered the ceremony by bluntly
warning it would conduct “an immediate military response” should Russia violate
the accord and attack its ships or stage an incursion around its ports.
The two sides eventually inked separate but
identical agreements in the presence of Guterres and Erdogan at Istanbul’s
lavish Dolmabahce Palace.
Guterres then hailed the agreement as “a
beacon of hope”.
Zelensky said just after the deal was signed
that responsibility for enforcing it fell to the UN, which along with Turkey is
a co-guarantor of the agreement.
The deal includes points on running Ukrainian
grain ships along safe corridors that avoid known mines in the Black Sea.
Huge quantities of wheat and other grain have
been blocked in Ukrainian ports by Russian warships and the mines Kyiv laid to
avert a feared amphibious assault.
Zelensky said that around 20 million tonnes
of produce from last year’s harvest and the current crop would be exported
under the agreement, estimating the value of Ukraine’s grain stocks at around
$10 billion.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told Kremlin state
media he expected the deal to start working “in the next few days” although
diplomats expect grain to only start fully flowing by mid-August.
Read more Region and World
Jordan News
.jpg)
.jpg)
