There is no progress in the process of unblocking Ukrainian ports because no real tool has been found to guarantee that Russia will not attack them again, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday, speaking by video link at a meeting of the Bureau of the Assembly of the African Union.
"We are engaged in complicated multi-level negotiations to unblock the Ukrainian ports. But you see - there is no progress yet. Because no real instrument has yet been found to guarantee that Russia will not attack them again," he said.
According to Zelensky, Ukraine is setting up exports by rail and through neighboring countries so that last year's crop and this year's harvest can still get to consumers.
"But the new routes manage to send a much smaller volume and in much more time. It ends up being a more expensive delivery," he said.
The food crisis in the world, the president said, "will continue as long as the colonial war, Russia's war against our state, continues, and as long as our ports are blocked."
Also, he reminded, Ukraine was one of the main European producers of fertilizers. "And now production is actually stopped - again, because of the war. Some producers have no raw materials and no possibility even to work - because of the threat of Russian missile strikes and other consequences of military operations. Some of the companies are already in war zones and have simply been defeated by Russian troops."
"Have you heard about this from your Russian partners with whom you remain in communication? Have they told you about this? I'm sure they tell you very different things," Zelensky noted.
According to him, Russia "actually needs this crisis" because "they are trying to use you and the suffering of people to put pressure on democratic states that have imposed sanctions against Russia."
"I emphasize: the sanctions policy is only aimed at getting Russia to stop trying to turn Ukraine into its slave," Zelensky said.
