Ukraine will not agree to any solution that leaves even the slightest slit for the possibility of a frontal attack by the Russian Federation on Ukrainian ports from the sea, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.
"We will not agree to any solution that leaves even the slightest slit for the possibility of a frontal attack on Ukrainian ports from the sea by the Russian Federation," Kuleba said in an interview with Forbes.
He pointed out that logistics and security issues remain to be resolved for an agreement on grain exports from Ukraine.
"At the meeting in Istanbul, the delegations at the level of experts sat down and talked through a number of issues on security, which are in the competence of the military and logisticians. Politically the framework is understood. There are logistical and security issues that remain to be resolved. Yesterday, the delegations and the negotiating teams pretty much got those issues out of the way. Now all this should be put on paper," the Minister explained.
According to Kuleba, the Russian president may go for an agreement based on a desire to show countries in Africa and Asia that hold neutrality or lean more toward the Russian position on the war that he saved them from starvation.
"I see only one argument in terms of logic as to why Putin should agree. It is his desire to show countries that adhere to neutrality or are more inclined to the Russian position on the war (in Africa, Asia) that he saved them from starvation, from rising food prices. For everything else, I don't see why he would want to do that. By agreeing to unblock the Ukrainian ports, he undermines his efforts to strangle the Ukrainian economy. I think he has Russia's reputation for Asian and African countries on one side of the scale, and his unwillingness to let Ukraine earn a penny on the other," he said.
