Zelensky: Ukraine in complex talks to unblock its ports

Ukraine is in complicated negotiations to free its ports from Russian blockade, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on June 20, after a leading EU diplomat accused Russia of committing a “real war crime” by blocking grain exports from those ports.

No progress has been made so far in difficult, multi-level negotiations to unlock our ports,” Zelensky said, warning that the current grain crisis could last as long as Russia’s “colonial war.”

Zelensky said this in a video address to the African Union.

Earlier, on June 20, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell spoke about the situation with grain exports ahead of the meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg.

 “It is unbelievable that millions of tons of wheat are blocked in Ukraine when people in the rest of the world are starving. This is a real war crime,” Borrell said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has dismissed Western allegations that Moscow is responsible for the sharp rise in global grain prices over port blockades.