President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told leaders at the United Nations that Ukraine was ready for a maritime truce in the Black Sea based on proposals by Egypt, India and Turkey and said it was now up to Russia to respond. He spoke at Ukraine’s Crimean Platform summit on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, ahead of a Security Council meeting on the war, which is now in its fifth year. Zelenskiy said the three countries had outlined options to restore safe navigation for merchant shipping in the Black Sea, where cargo movements are at a near standstill due to heavy attacks on ships and port infrastructure by both sides.
The Kremlin has not publicly backed the proposals, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying there were no grounds yet for wider peace talks while insisting Moscow remained open to dialogue. Top wheat importers across Asia, the Middle East and Africa that rely on the Black Sea region have struggled to secure supplies as global wheat prices have soared. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said after meeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that both sides had expressed interest in a limited ceasefire covering grain and energy infrastructure.
Source: Reuters via gCaptain — https://gcaptain.com/zelenskiy-says-ukraine-ready-for-maritime-truce-if-russia-agrees/
Tags: Black Sea, Ukraine, Grain Shipping, United Nations
