The Black Sea. File photoUN, Apr 22Russia calls on international organizations and countries to influence Kyiv so that the Ukrainian authorities ensure the freedom of civil navigation, said Deputy Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN Dmitry Chumakov during an informal meeting of the UN Security Council. According to him, Russia is taking the whole range of measures to ensure civil navigation in Chernoy, Azov and Mediterranean seas. «We call on the International Maritime Organization, other international organizations and other countries to interact with the Kiev authorities to participate in negotiations on this topic,» Chumakov said. According to the diplomat, the Russian side was shocked to learn that EU High Representative Josep Borrell told the France 24 that «it is the Russians who are blocking the export of Ukrainian wheat to Africa.» «We would like to refer to the statement of the Russian Joint Humanitarian Response Coordination Headquarters, which says that 76 foreign ships from 18 countries remain blocked in the ports of Ukraine due to the threat of shelling and mine danger from Ukraine,» Chumakov said. This danger was recognized by the Ukrainian delegation to the International Maritime Organization, he added. «The Ukrainian side never agrees with our statements about maritime humanitarian corridors,» he concluded. Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine on February 24. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces strike only at military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops and , on March 25, completed the main tasks of the first stage — significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The main goal in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass.
