Russia Has No Plans To Attack Civilian Shipping In Black Sea, Says Russian Ambassador

Russia has no plans of attacking civilian vessels in the Black Sea despite its assertions by the U.S., the Russian ambassador to Washington mentioned on Thursday in his comments posted by the embassy.

On Wednesday, Moscow mentioned that it would deem all vessels sailing to Ukraine’s ports to be the potential carriers of military cargo and the flag nations to be parties to the conflict on Ukraine’s side after Russia eventually quit a year-old agreement to give vessels exporting to Ukraine’s grain a safe passage despite the ongoing war.

Commenting on the decision, the White House mentioned that Russia could expand attacks on Ukraine’s grain facilities, including attacks on civilian shipping in the waters of the Black Sea.

Ambassador Anatoly Antonov mentioned in his comments posted on the official Telegram account of the embassy that efforts to attribute to Russia the preparation of attacks on civilian vessels are falsification. He added that they regard the statements of the U.S. as an attempt to disguise the destructive activities targeted at the de facto sabotaging of the implementation of interrelated Istanbul deals.

On Monday, Moscow quit the deal under which it had permitted Ukraine to transport grain from Black Sea ports to alleviate a worldwide food crisis. Russia mentioned that a parallel memorandum signed in Istanbul simultaneously should have been addressed. That was intended to facilitate Moscow’s grain and fertilizer exports in the face of numerous Western sanctions on Russia in response to its war in Ukraine.