The UK said on Tuesday it had intelligence on the possibility that the Russian Federation would launch attacks on civilian shipping in the Black Sea, extending a recent bombing campaign against Ukrainian ports and grain depots.
British Ambassador to the United Nations (UN) Barbara Woodward told reporters that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak relayed this information to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a telephone conversation on Tuesday.
“Our information also indicates that Russia has planted more mines at the entrances to Ukrainian ports, and we agree with the US analysis that this is a concerted effort to justify and blame Ukraine for any attack on civilian ships in the Black Sea,” Woodward said.
The diplomat said the UN Security Council will meet on Wednesday at Ukraine’s request to discuss Russia’s attacks on Odessa and other port cities and its break with the so-called Black Sea Initiative, which has boosted Ukraine’s grain exports.
“We once again call on Russia to stop holding the world’s food stocks hostage and return to an agreement on the Black Sea,” Woodward said, echoing a request made on Monday by UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
However, today the Russian leadership replied that it is “impossible” to restart the agreement now, since, in their opinion, the obligations with the Russian side have not been fulfilled.
The Kremlin wants the Russian bank Rosselkhozbank to reconnect to the SWIFT banking network, lift sanctions on spare parts for agricultural machinery, unblock logistics and transport insurance, and restart the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline that exploded on June 5.