Ukraine has officially appealed to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to immediately send an international monitoring mission to Odesa ports amid intensified Russian attacks, Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said on Wednesday.
“Ensuring freedom of navigation in the Black Sea is our common goal and one of the key priorities of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy,” he told during negotiations with the foreign ministers of the Nordic-Baltic Eight countries in Odesa.
The visit of the Nordic and Baltic diplomats to Odesa followed up on President Zelenskyy’s talks with the leaders of the Nordic-Baltic Eight.
The diplomats held a separate meeting with leading agricultural exporters, who spoke about the intensification of Russian attacks against the agricultural sector and port infrastructure.
Sybiha emphasized that Russia chooses civilian ships, grain storage facilities, and terminals as targets for strikes, which is a blow to Ukraine’s economy and global food security.
According to the Foreign Minister, over the past month alone, Russian strikes have damaged four ships, including those carrying grain cargoes for Egypt and corn for Italy.
The Ukrainian minister invited his partners to consider additional assistance in insuring ships and terminals. He noted the high efficiency of the Ukrainian Corridor, adding that since August 2023, more than 2,800 vessels have entered Ukrainian ports, and 51 million tons of agricultural exports have been handled.
He also said that during the full-scale invasion, Russia has attacked Ukrainian ports more than 50 times, causing damage to more than 300 port infrastructure facilities and 23 civilian vessels, and the destruction of more than 100 thousand tonnes of agricultural products.
“These are the targets that Russia chooses for its attacks – civilian vessels, grain storage facilities, terminals. These are not just attacks on our economy. These are attacks on global food security. Russia is putting millions of people in the world at risk of starvation,” the minister noted.
The minister also emphasized that Ukraine remains a reliable partner and guarantor of global food security even in times of war and called on allies to support Ukrainian farmers.
Andrii Sybiha expressed his gratitude to his colleagues for the solidarity visit and unwavering political, military, financial and humanitarian support since the beginning of the full-scale Russian war.
According to the Ukrainian government, the Foreign Ministers of the Nordic-Baltic Eight countries declared their continued strong support for Ukraine and Ukrainian initiatives, the allocation of additional energy assistance packages to strengthen Ukraine’s resilience ahead of winter, and the need to increase the sanction pressure on Russia.
Andrii Sybiha also called for blocking the Russian shadow fleet, which allows Moscow to earn money, as he said, for the war against Ukraine.
