President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine pushed for diplomatic efforts on Saturday to reopen the Black Sea to Ukrainian grain shipments, strategically with the head of NATO a day after discussing with the Turkish president the collapse of an agreement that would allow ships to bypass Russia’s blockade.
Moscow withdrew from the year-long deal, a rare deal between Russia and Ukraine brokered by Turkey and the United Nations. Efforts to revive it have been fall into doubtwhen Russia attacked Ukrainian ports, attacked grain stores and other infrastructure, and vowed to consider commercial ships in the Black Sea capable of carrying military goods.
“Due to Russia’s actions, the world is once again on the brink of a food crisis,” said Zelensky wrote on Twitter late Friday. “A total of 400 million people in many countries in Africa and Asia are at risk of starvation. Together, we must avert a global food crisis.”
Turkey’s President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has been the main mediator between Russia and Ukraine since the full-blown invasion began last February, standing out from the NATO allies by maintaining friendly relations with Russian President Vladimir V. Putin. Erdogan is scheduled to meet with Putin next month.
Zelensky said he discussed the prospect of peace with Erdogan and asked for help in the release of prisoners of war, especially members of the Crimean Tatar minority.
During the meeting, “President Erdogan declared that Turkey had made every effort to make peace prevail,” the office of the Turkish president say on Twitteradded that Friday’s call took place at Kiev’s request.
On Saturday, Mr. Zelensky said that he and NATO secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, discussed “priority and necessary future steps to lift the blockade and sustainably operate the grain corridor in the Black Sea.”
Russia has said it will extend the deal, but only if other countries lift sanctions they have imposed in response to their invasion of Ukraine, a move that is unlikely. Moscow says the deal is unfair to Russia and its producers have been forced to sell grain and other agricultural products at below-market prices.
On Friday, Mr. Erdogan told reporters that Russia wanted to maintain the grain corridor, “but there are some expectations from Western countries and they need to act.” He said he would discuss the matter with Putin by phone and when they meet next month.
Moscow’s decision to terminate the agreement comes just days after the Turkish leader hold a warm meeting with President Biden And say Ukraine deserves “no doubt NATO member”, a move that is likely to further complicate relations with Mr Putin, who has blamed NATO’s expansion, in part, on his decision to invade Ukraine, and raises questions about the possibility of restoring the agreement.
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, speaking at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado on Friday, accused Russia of “weaponizing the food supply” and said it would be “very, very difficult” for Ukraine to resume shipments of grain and other food products.
Tensions also increased in the region after Monday’s attack on the Kerch Strait Bridge, linking Russia to the occupied Crimea, killed two civilians. Crimea is an important background when Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine and remains an important logistics hub for the country’s war. Kiev has carried out increasingly bold attacks on the peninsula, although it has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for the bridge attack.
On Saturday, a drone attack on an ammunition depot on the peninsula prompted authorities to evacuate within a three-mile radius and halt some shipping, the Moscow-appointed regional governor said on Saturday.
Governor Sergei Aksyonov reported no damage or casualties. Video shared by Russian state media shows a thick cloud of smoke. Footage could not be verified immediately. Ukrainian army confirm a strikesays it destroyed an oil depot and warehouses.
In a video address to the Aspen Security Forum, an annual national security conference, Zelensky said on Friday that the Kerch Strait Bridge was a legitimate Ukrainian target and it should be destroyed.
“The goal is to return all of Crimea, because this is our sovereign territory,” he said. “The Kerch Bridge is not a small logistical road. It was used to transport ammunition and militarize the Crimean Peninsula.
Mr. Zelensky also admitted that his country counterattacked against the Russian army that was digging deep progress is slower than expected because the activity started late.
“We had planned to start it in the spring, but we didn’t, because, to be honest, we didn’t have enough ammunition and weapons and we didn’t have enough trained brigades. I mean, well trained in these weapons,” Zelensky said.
The late start, he said, “gave Russia time to exploit all of our land and build some defensive lines.”
Russia had months to prepare for a counter-offensive, and the front was littered with mines, tank traps and tunneling troops, while Russian spy drones and attack helicopters flew overhead with increasing frequency.
Near the front lines in southern Ukraine, cluster bombs were used in an artillery attack on Saturday, killing a reporter for the state news agency RIA Novosti, Rostislav Zhuravlev, and wounding three others, the Russian Defense Ministry said. Report it cannot be independently verified. Ukrainian officials did not immediately comment.
Cluster bombs, which drop small bombs over a wide area, are banned by many countries by treaty, but both Russia and Ukraine have used them for much of the war. Washington recently began supplying Ukraine with a stockpile of US-made cluster weapons, which US officials say began to be used against Russian defenses, a fact Russian state media have highlighted.
The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, posted on Telegram early Saturday morning that Ukraine had fired several cluster bombs at a village near the Ukrainian border, as well as a self-destructing drone. He said there were no casualties or damage. His report could not be independently verified. Ukraine has denied using cluster bombs on civilian targets.
A cameraman for the German news agency, Deutsche Welle, was hit and injured after Russia fired cluster bombs at a training camp near Druzhkivka in the Donbas region, according to a press release by Deutsche Welle. One Ukrainian soldier was killed in the attack and others were seriously injured. The cameraman, Ievgen Shylko, is in stable condition after receiving treatment at a hospital in Ukraine.
Eric Schmitt Report contributed from Aspen, Colo. Gaya Gupta contributed reporting from New York.
