Ukraine-NATO Council Condemns Russia's Attempt to Disrupt Grain Corridor

The members of the NATO alliance and Ukraine strongly condemned Russia's attempts to withdraw from the grain agreement and turn "hunger into a weapon" - these were the conclusions of an urgent meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Council on the security situation in the Black Sea region.

This was reported on the official website of the North Atlantic Alliance.

During the meeting, the members of the bloc and Ukraine strongly condemned Russia's recent attempts to block Ukrainian agricultural exports "on which hundreds of millions of people around the world depend."

At the same time, participants emphasized the recent horrific attacks carried out by Russia on Ukrainian port cities Odesa and Mykolaiv, as well as the destruction of a grain storage facility in the Danube port city of Reni, located on the border with Romania.

"Russia bears full responsibility for its dangerous and escalatory actions in the Black Sea region. Russia must stop turning hunger into a weapon and threatening the most vulnerable populations of the world with food insecurity. Russia's actions also pose significant risks to the stability of the Black Sea region, which is of strategic importance to NATO. Alliance members are increasing their support for Ukraine and raising our vigilance. We remain ready to defend every centimeter of Alliance territory against any aggression," said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

In addition, NATO plans to strengthen surveillance and reconnaissance in the Black Sea region, including through the use of planes and drones.

With the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the North Atlantic Alliance has already significantly increased its presence in this region, thanks in part to two new multinational battle groups in Bulgaria and Romania.

It should be recalled that last week Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky requested NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to urgently convene a meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Council in response to Russia's aggressive actions in the Black Sea.

The Russian Federation announced its withdrawal from the grain agreement on Monday, July 17, and also stated that trading ships approaching Ukrainian ports would be considered military targets and would be fired upon.

Immediately after this, the terrorist state began launching mass missile strikes on Ukrainian port cities.

On July 23, the historic centre of Odesa was hit by the most powerful mass missile strike. As a result, the centre of the city, protected by UNESCO, was damaged. The largest Orthodox church in Odesa, the Transfiguration Cathedral, was destroyed, and numerous cultural and architectural monuments and residential buildings were damaged.

Today, in the early hours of the morning, Russia launched another missile strike on the port infrastructure of Odesa. As a result, one person was killed and the production equipment of one of the cargo terminals was damaged.