Ukraine said on Monday that it expects to make the first grain exports under a UN-sponsored agreement from “this week”, despite the bombing on Saturday by Moscow of the port of Odessa.
(Read: Ukraine focuses on recovering Kherson after five months of war)
“We hope that the agreement will start working in the next few days and we hope that a coordination center will be established in Istanbul in the next few days. We are preparing everything to start this week“Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov told a news conference.
They die without ever seeing the neighboring region. They attack from several directions at once, trying to disperse our defenses. It does not work.
The head of the Luhansk Regional Administration, Serhiy Haidai, was quoted by Ukrinform as saying today that Russian attempts to reach the Donetsk region are unsuccessful.
“The occupiers do not give up their intentions to develop an attack on the big cities of the Donetsk region, but for now they remain quiet in our region,” the governor said.
According to the latest balance of the Ukrainian Army, some 39,700 Russian soldiers have died in Ukraine since the invasion began on February 24, just six months ago.
Russian losses to the Ukrainians include 1,730 tanks, 3,950 armored fighting vehicles, 876 artillery systems, 257 multiple launch rockets, 116 anti-aircraft warfare systems, 222 aircraft and 118 helicopters.
The agreement must follow
The Kremlin assured that the Russian missile attack this Saturday against the port of Odessa, on the Black Sea, “cannot and should not” affect the agreement reached the previous day in Istanbul to unblock Ukrainian grain exports.
That action “had to do exclusively with military infrastructure and was in no way related to the infrastructure that is used to comply with the agreement for the output of cereals,” said the spokesman for the Russian Presidency, Dmitri Peskov, at his press conference. daily Press.
cannot and should not influence the start of the loading process” (of the grain).
This Saturday Russia attacked the port of Odessa with two missiles, where according to the Russian military command it destroyed a boat, a depot of American Harpoon anti-ship missiles and facilities for the repair and modernization of ships of the Ukrainian Navy.
The agreement to unblock cereal exports was closed on the 22nd through two separate documents; one signed by Ukraine, Turkey and the UN, and the other by Russia, Turkey and the UN.
The Secretary General of the UN, António Guterres, condemned “unequivocally” the Russian attacks against Odessa one day after the agreement was reached to export Ukrainian grain and alleviate the shortage of grain throughout the world.
The United States joined the rejection and its Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, denounced that the attack on Odessa “raises serious doubts about Russia’s commitment to the agreement.”
“The Kremlin continues to show contempt for the security of millions of civilians as it perpetuates its assault on Ukraine,” Blinken said in a statement, stressing that Russia “deprives Ukraine of its economic vitality and the world of its food supply.”
In turn, the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, declared that the attack on Odessa “proves only one thing: no matter what Russia promises, it will always find a way not to fulfill it.”
Russia will not cut gas
Likewise, Russia affirmed this Monday that it is “not interested” in the cessation of gas supplies to Europe before the declarations that are heard in some European capitals about this possibility.
“Russia is not interested in that,” said the spokesman for the Russian Presidency, Dmitri Peskov, at his daily press conference. Peskov added that Moscow is a “responsible” gas supplier despite what is said in Brussels and Washington.
Russia has been and continues to be a country that largely guarantees Europe’s energy security.
At the same time, he pointed out that “if Europe continues the path of adopting senseless restrictions and sanctions, which affects itself, the situation will be different.” “But I repeat, Russia is not interested in that (cutting off gas to Europe),” she insisted.
On July 21, Moscow resumed the supply of gas to Europe through the Nord Stream gas pipeline with a planned capacity of 40%, the same as it had before the ten-day technical stoppage.
The German Government insisted, however, that Russia is not “a reliable partner”, after resuming supplies through the gas pipeline and supported the proposal of the European Commission (EC) to reduce gas consumption by 15%, included in those countries that do not depend on Russian energy.
According to the Kremlin, the words of the German leaders “contrast with reality and with the history of supplies.” Peskov assured that, even in the “most difficult moments”, the Russian side continued to fulfill its gas commitments.
As for the current reduction in the flow of supplies, the Kremlin representative once again blamed “illegal restrictions” imposed by European countries, including Germany.
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
*With information from EFE and AFP
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