By Michelle Nichols
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly condemned on Thursday Russian attacks on Ukraine’s Black Sea ports and warned the “destruction of civilian infrastructure may constitute a violation of international humanitarian law.”
“These attacks are also having an impact well beyond Ukraine,” said U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric. “We are already seeing the negative effect on global wheat and corn prices which hurts everyone, but especially vulnerable people in the global south.”
Russia has jolted world grain markets with an escalation in the Black Sea, mounting a third-straight night of air strikes on Ukrainian ports and issuing a threat against Ukraine-bound vessels.
Kyiv responded by announcing similar measures against vessels bound for Russia or Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory.
Moscow has described the port attacks as revenge for a Ukrainian strike on Russia’s bridge to Crimea on Monday.
The moves came just days after Russia quit a deal – brokered by the United Nations and Turkey – that allowed the safe Black Sea export of Ukraine grain for the past year.
The U.N. Security Council will meet on Friday over the “humanitarian consequences” of Russia’s withdrawal from the Black Sea deal, Britain’s U.N mission said on Thursday.
Russia’s withdrawal on Monday also effectively ended a pact between the U.N. and Moscow, in which U.N. officials agreed to help Russian food and fertilizer exports reach world markets.
Under that agreement, the U.N. has said Moscow was no longer fulfilling a pledge to “facilitate the unimpeded export of food, sunflower oil, and fertilizers” from Ukrainian Black Sea Ports.
The United Nations said on Thursday that Russia’s attacks on Ukrainian ports also contradict that commitment.
“The Secretary-General will not relent in his efforts to ensure that Ukrainian and Russian food and fertilizer are available on international markets as part of his ongoing efforts to fight global hunger and ensure stable food prices for consumers everywhere,” Dujarric said.
(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; editing by Kanishka Singh)
