On Thursday, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine, said that Kyiv and its European supporters will pay particular attention to the Black Sea region and work on strengthening air defenses, making his statements upon arrival in Spain to participate in the European Political Community Summit which is scheduled to gather the leaders of some 50 European nations.
In a social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, Zelenskyy said, “We are working together with partners on enhancing the European security architecture, particularly regional security. Ukraine has substantial proposals in this regard. We will pay special attention to the Black Sea region as well as our joint efforts to strengthen global food security and freedom of navigation.”
“Ukraine’s key priority, particularly as winter approaches, is to strengthen air defense. We have already laid the groundwork for new agreements with partners and look forward to their approval and implementation,” Zelenskyy added.
Ukraine has long claimed that it lacked air defense systems to protect the whole territory of the nation from Russian attacks. Oleksii Reznikov, Minister of Defense, said in August that the Ukrainian armed forces’ top focus is the provision of air defense systems, including aviation.
According to the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), the Black Sea, meanwhile, has come under global scrutiny as Moscow continued to target civilian shipping including by laying sea mines in the approach to Ukrainian ports.
It said, “The UK assesses Russia is seeking to target civilian shipping traveling through Ukraine’s ‘humanitarian corridor’ to deter the export of Ukrainian grain.”
The FCDO said, “This would continue Russia’s attempts to pressure the Ukrainian economy. Russia almost certainly wants to avoid openly sinking civilian ships, instead falsely laying blame on Ukraine for any attacks against civilian vessels in the Black Sea.”
“Russia’s latest plans are part of a wider pattern of Russian aggression in the Black Sea. Since July, Russia has systematically targeted Ukrainian port and civilian infrastructure.”
The FCDO emphasized that since the withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative, Russia has sabotaged 130 port infrastructure facilities in Odesa, Chornomorsk, and Reni. It also destroyed almost 300,000 tonnes of grain.
Moscow’s exit from the initiative led to up to 24 million tonnes of foodstuffs from Kyiv not arriving in international markets over the coming year unless Ukraine can make alternative export routes.
