Britain has information suggesting the Russian military may move beyond attacks on Ukrainian grain facilities to target civilian shipping in the Black Sea, Britain’s UN ambassador Barbara Woodward said.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak shared the information with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky in a phone call on Tuesday, Woodward said.
Britain’s information also indicates that Russia has laid additional sea mines in the approaches to Ukrainian ports, she said.
„We agree with the US assessment that this is a coordinated effort to justify and lay blame on Ukraine for any attacks against civilian ships in the Black Sea,” she told reporters.
The UN Security Council is due to hold meetings on Ukraine on Wednesday.
Russia last week quit a deal that had allowed the safe Black Sea export of Ukrainian grain for the past year, saying that demands to improve its own food and fertilizer exports – which are not subject to Western sanctions – had not been met.
Since Russia quit the deal and began attacking Ukrainian food-exporting ports on the Black Sea and Danube River, global wheat and corn futures have risen sharply. The UN says that he most vulnerable will pay the highest price.
Romanian president, PM condemn Russian attacks on Ukraine near Romania border
