Kuleba says “no one can trust the Russians” and advocates UN involvement
MADRID, 31 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, Dimitro Kuleba, said Tuesday that an “international operation” is necessary in the Black Sea to allow the passage of commercial ships with the aim of restarting grain exports from the port of Odessa, amid the worsening of the economic and food crisis due to the war.
Kuleba has indicated in an interview granted to the Italian newspaper ‘La Repubblica’ that this operation must be carried out “with the help of friendly countries that wish to send their ships to demine the waters and escort the passage of commercial cargo”, something that ” It can only be done with a formal commitment from Russia not to use the corridor to attack (Ukraine).”
“No one can trust the Russians,” he said, before ruling out the validity of a “unilateral guarantee” by Moscow. “We need third countries to guarantee the application of the agreement. We agree with an intervention by the United Nations. Our main interest is that the wheat reaches the countries that need it,” she explained.
Thus, he underlined that talks in this regard are “advanced” and has confirmed “contacts” with the UN and countries that could act as “guarantors”, while indicating that the authorization for ships to leave Odessa “is A highway against time.
“To avoid disastrous consequences, the ports must be unblocked in two weeks, at most. Clearly, the best option would be to end the war, but (Russian President Vladimir) Putin does not want that,” he lamented, before It should be noted that kyiv does not set “specific conditions” to restart the peace talks.
“We just want the Russian delegates to show their willingness to have a real negotiation. Putin only knows how to give ultimatums. Look what is happening now. They are carrying out a brutal invasion in Donbas, in the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions and trying to annex territories and launching missiles against cities,” he stressed.
In this sense, he has emphasized that “if someone wants to negotiate, he does not behave like that”, while he has recognized that at this time “there is no possibility” that the Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelenski, meets with Putin, despite mediation efforts by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Kuleba has also pointed out that it would be “a shame” if the European Union (EU) did not approve a package of sanctions against Russia that includes an embargo on Russian oil and explained that “it would mean that Putin has succeeded in his attempt to divide the EU”. “I believe that breaking dependency on Russian oil and gas is in the interest of the EU,” he reiterated.
Along these lines, he stated that the support of the countries for the bloc remains as firm as at the beginning of the war, although he lamented that “some voices are less firm because they have become accustomed to this war.” “Not us, the Ukrainians. We can’t get used to it,” he stressed.
For this reason, he has opted for “bringing the Russian economy to its knees to prevent Putin from buying weapons and paying the Army.” “It is a country that depends heavily on its exports, mainly by sea, so we ask that foreign trade be stopped and that the export of gas, steel and nuclear energy to Europe be blocked through sanctions,” he said. .
The Ukrainian Foreign Minister has acknowledged that these measures would have “consequences” for several countries, although he has stated that “they would not be devastating.” “It is the price that must be paid to stop the conflict. To mitigate the general impact, some essential goods could be excluded during a first phase,” he pointed out.
Finally, he has once again called on Western countries to send cannons and 155-millimeters and multiple rocket launchers to deal with the Russian offensive and has charged against Germany. “There are countries that we expect to deliver and others with which we have grown tired of waiting. Germany belongs to the second group,” he said.
“If we had received weapons from the West in time, we would have liberated Kherson and other areas. The time will come to launch the counter-offensive. We are at war with a country that has a president who hates us and does not want us to exist. We will never give up.” “, has riveted.