Thanks to intelligence, Ukraine knows what Russia is forcing the UN and partners to do by attacking Ukrainian ports – Zelenskyy

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy points out that the purpose of Russian attacks on Ukrainian ports is, among other things, to force Ukraine’s partners and the UN to lift certain restrictions imposed on Russia. As the Head of State made clear at a joint briefing with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar in Kyiv, Ukraine is aware of this, even if the relevant demands are not made publicly.

“There is another aspect to all this – that Russia is attacking our ports. Firstly, we need to understand that whenever it does this, it forces us to do something – and not only us, but also our partners and the UN – to open something, to lift sanctions on something. There are many different conversations behind the scenes about what Ukraine knows. Even so. Whether someone likes to hear it or not, it is a fact. Thank God we have intelligence, and it works,” he emphasized.

As a reminder, the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which allowed safe passage of ships through the Black Sea to and from the ports of Odesa region, expired on July 17 due to Russia’s refusal to extend it.

It should be noted that earlier, in particular, the Russian Federation insisted that Ukraine resume the transit of Russian ammonia through its territory in order to extend the agreement. Ukraine, on the other hand, demanded guarantees from the UN that the agreement would work properly if Kyiv allowed the transit of Russian ammonia. However, in June, the relevant ammonia pipeline began to come under fire in the Kharkiv region, with the consequences of depressurization, i.e., unusability. Thus, this condition de facto lost its relevance.

It was also reported that Russia demanded that in order to continue the grain deal, Rosselkhozbank should have access to the SWIFT international system for the transfer of information and payments. On July 17, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that as a mediator, he had offered to allow the bank’s subsidiary to regain access to SWIFT through a special payment mechanism through the American bank JP Morgan, but that Russia had ignored this offer.

Tags: Ukraine, grain, blocking ports, Black Sea grain corridor