Selenskyj calls the attack on the Ukrainian port city an "act of Russian barbarism". Washington also sees Russia as responsible. US Secretary of State Blinken is therefore questioning how seriously the Kremlin meant signing the grain agreement.
The US government has blamed Russia for the shelling of the Ukrainian port city of Odessa and has strongly condemned the attack. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Russia broke its commitments just a day after agreeing to export Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea. "This attack raises serious doubts about the credibility of Russia's commitment to yesterday's agreement."
Blinken said the shelling was undermining the work of the United Nations, Turkey and Ukraine to get essential food products to world markets. Russia bears responsibility for worsening the global food crisis. Moscow has approved the grain export agreement and now has the duty to fully implement it.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the rocket attacks on the port of Odessa in a video message as an act of "blatant Russian barbarism". The strikes are another reason for giving Ukraine such weapons "that are necessary for our victory," said the head of state. He accused Russia of shelling the port of Odessa a day after the agreement on the export of Ukrainian grain was signed in Istanbul.
According to Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, Russia has said it had nothing to do with the attack and wanted to investigate the incident. So far, there has been no official Russian reaction. On the other hand, Zelenskyj said that Russia had exposed itself politically with the rocket attacks. "If anyone in the world said earlier that it is necessary to enter into dialogue with Russia, to reach agreements on a ceasefire without liberating our territory from the occupiers, today's missiles have destroyed the possibility of such statements," he said.
On Friday, Russia had pledged in an agreement that ships for export would be allowed to use a sea corridor and not fired at them. The three ports involved must therefore not be attacked. Among other things, it is about the export of millions of tons of grain. The agreement, signed through the mediation of the United Nations and Turkey, provides for exports to be monitored from a control center in Istanbul.
