Believing Putin without guarantees would be suicide for Ukraine/Unsplash
Ukraine cannot count on Russian President Vladimir Putin to keep his word and provide truly safe passage for grain ships.
Don't trust Putin. This was emphasized by German Minister of Agriculture Cem Ozdemir during a visit to Kyiv, where he arrived to discuss assistance to Ukraine and safe food export routes.
Recently, Moscow hinted at the possibility that it can provide safe passage of Ukrainian grain carriers through the Black Sea in exchange for easing Western sanctions.
Meanwhile, Ozdemir, during a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Nikolai Solsky, said that he shares Ukraine's skepticism regarding Russia's promises.
Trusting Putin's promises without credible and effective military guarantees would be suicidal for Ukraine, he said. >The Minister stressed that while Putin is blocking the sea route, it is necessary to use and strengthen all available alternatives: roads, railways and the Danube. He added that Germany “will not back down” on this issue.
To boost efforts to get Ukrainian wheat out of the country across the Danube, Odzemir has pledged new funds to finance the expansion of laboratory facilities in Izmail, located on the banks of the river near the Romanian border. This will help to minimize the turnaround time of vessels at the border.
At the same time, he noted that these solutions are still “the second or third best solution”, since even the maximum use of rail, road or river transport will not replace export volumes with Black Sea.
The main issue is to help Ukraine become sovereign and independent again and return to world markets,” Ozdemir said.
Russia steals grain from Ukraine
- While the southern territories are under temporary occupation, the occupiers export Ukrainian products from there, primarily grain. Tons of it are transported by trucks to the occupied Crimea, from where they are loaded on a ship and taken to Syria, where they are trying to sell it. Recently it became known that even Turkey buys stolen goods from Ukraine, which promised to help with its export to the market.
- Egypt was also one of the countries to which Russia tried to sell grain stolen in Ukraine. But our diplomats reacted in time, they refused to buy the loot. Therefore, the ship changed direction to Lebanon and Syria.
- The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine assumed that the stolen grain could be transported further from Syria to the countries of the Middle East due to smuggling. In addition to grain, Ukrainian intelligence officers have information that the invaders are stealing other vegetables: beets, potatoes, cabbage, and more.
