UN Security Council To Meet On “Humanitarian Consequences” Of Black Sea Grain Deal Collapse
The United Nations Security Council will be convening today, 21 July, to discuss the “humanitarian consequences” of the collapse of the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
According to an announcement by the United Kingdom’s mission to the security council, the UNSC will be briefed on Friday morning about the likely results of Russia’s withdrawal from the deal, which had allowed the safe export of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea over the past year. The Russian government had announced its withdrawal on Monday, alleging that the United Nations had failed to meet commitments made in a separate deal to facilitate Russian agricultural exports.
Following its withdrawal from the deal, Russia has attacked the Ukrainian port cities of Odesa and Mykolaiv for three consecutive nights with suicide drones and cruise missiles. According to Ukrainian authorities, an overnight Russian attack on Mykolaiv resulted in the death of an elderly couple and injured 18 others including five children, while an attack on Odesa resulted in one civilian death, as well as injuries to five civilians and three firefighters
The announcement of the UNSC meeting followed a statement by Ukraine’s defense ministry earlier on Thursday that “By openly threatening civilian ships transporting food from Ukrainian ports, launching missile attacks and drone attacks on civilian infrastructure in peaceful cities, deliberately creating a military threat on trade routes, the Kremlin has turned the Black Sea into a danger zone, primarily for Russian ships and ships heading in the waters of the Black Sea in the direction of seaports of the Russian Federation and Ukrainian seaports located on the territory of Ukraine temporarily occupied by Russia. The responsibility for all risks lies entirely with the Russian leadership.”
The ministry referenced the sinking of the Russian cruiser Moskva as proof of its ability to attack shipping to Russian-controlled ports, saying that from “00:00 on 21 July, 2023, all vessels heading in the waters of the Black Sea in the direction of seaports of the Russian Federation and Ukrainian seaports located on the territory of Ukraine temporarily occupied by Russia may be considered by Ukraine as such carrying military cargo with all the associated risks.”
Kyiv’s message mirrored language used in a threat issued by Russia on Wednesday that “all ships proceeding in the waters of the Black Sea to Ukrainian ports will be considered as potential carriers of military cargoes” as of Thursday. “Countries of the flag of such ships will be considered to be involved in the Ukrainian conflict on the side of (the) Kyiv regime”, warned the Russian defense ministry.