Russia willing to negotiate corridor for ships with cereals from Ukraine
Moscow, May 25 (EFE).- Russia expressed Wednesday its willingness to negotiate a humanitarian corridor in the Black Sea for ships with cereals blocked in the ports of Ukraine.
“We have repeatedly commented on the matter and said that a resolution of the food problem would require a comprehensive approach, including the lifting of sanctions imposed on Russian exports and financial transactions,” said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko, according to Interfax agency.
He added that Ukraine would also be required to demine all the ports where the ships are.
“Russia is ready to provide the necessary humanitarian passage, as it is doing every day,” Rudenko said.
The Russian Defense Ministry on Wednesday announced the opening of a humanitarian corridor from the port of Mariupol on the Sea of Azov to the Black Sea.
The ministry’s spokesperson Igor Konashenkov, said the port of Mariupol, controlled by Russian forces, has begun to function normally.
Recently, the head of the National Defense Management Center of Russia, Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev, accused the West of trying to get the cereals out of Ukraine as soon as possible, unmindful of what will happen once the Ukrainian silos are empty.
Furthermore, he compared the situation to their “fallacious” accusations that the Russian Federation has been artificially creating a food crisis.
According to the Russian military official, 70 foreign ships from 16 countries remain blocked in six Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea due to fears of artillery fire and mines set up by the Kyiv government. EFE
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