The first shipment of Ukrainian grain since the Russian invasion in February left the port of Odesa on Monday under a landmark deal to lift Moscow’s naval blockade in the Black Sea.
It noted that the departure of the Razoni cargo ship would bring “relief for the world” – if Moscow respected its side of the accord – but President Volodymyr Zelensky cautioned it was too soon to celebrate.
“At this time, it is too early to draw any conclusions and make any forecasts,” Zelensky said in his daily video address.
“Let’s wait and see how the agreement works and whether security will be really guaranteed.”
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday called Russia’s actions around Ukraine’s largest nuclear power plant “the height of irresponsibility,” accusing Moscow of using it as a “nuclear shield” in attacks on Ukrainian forces, AFP reported.
Russia in March was accused of firing shells dangerously close to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant as its forces took it over in the first weeks of the invasion of Ukraine.
Washington is “deeply concerned” that Moscow was now using the plant as a military base and firing on Ukrainian forces from around it, Blinken told reporters after nuclear nonproliferation talks at the United Nations in New York.
“Of course the Ukrainians cannot fire back lest there be a terrible accident involving the nuclear plant,” he said.
Russia’s actions went beyond using a “human shield,” Blinken said, calling it a “nuclear shield.”
The Russian mission to the United Nations in New York strongly rejected Blinken’s accusations.
“We repeatedly stated that actions of our armed forces in no way undermine Ukraine’s nuclear security or impede routine operation of the NPP (nuclear power plant),” the Russian UN mission said in a statement.
