The Ukrainian foreign minister says grain exports from his country's ports won't resume without security guarantees for ship owners, cargo owners and Ukraine as an independent nation.
Military officials from Russia and Ukraine were set to hold their governments' first face-to-face talks in months Wednesday. They planned to meet in Istanbul to discuss a United Nations plan for getting blocked Ukrainian grain to world markets through the Black Sea.
Speaking to The Associated Press ahead of the talks, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said any agreement needs to ensure Russia “will respect these corridors, they will not sneak into the harbor and attack ports or that they will not attack ports from the air with their missiles.”
Kuleba also told the AP on Tuesday that Ukraine's military is “planning and preparing for full liberation” of Russian-occupied cities and towns near the country's Black Sea coast. Ukrainian forces already have stepped up their activity to retake territory in the south as Russia concentrates on eastern Ukraine.
Asked about the likelihood of negotiations to end the war that started when Russia invaded neighbouring Ukraine on Feb. 24, the foreign minister said peace talks were unlikely to happen soon.
“Russia continues to be in the war mood, and they are not seeking negotiations in good faith. They are seeking a way to make us implement their ultimatums, which is not going to happen,“ Kuleba said.
Moscow is attempting a de facto annexation of Kherson, Mariupol and other seized cities by introducing a Russian school curriculum, doing business in Russia's currency and offering Ukrainians Russian passports, he said.
“I'm pretty confident that once these territories are liberated, the vast majority of people will burn their Russian passports quietly in their fireplaces," Kuleba said.
In the meantime, Ukraine is insisting upon a full withdrawal of Russian forces as a condition for ending the conflict, he said.
“We are fighting for our freedom, for our territorial integrity, and we want peace. This war was imposed on us. This was not our choice," Kuleba told the AP.
He stressed that while Ukraine appreciates the support it has received from the United States and European nations during the war, the country needs Western weapons deliveries to speed up as the fighting drags on into a fifth month.