MOSCOW, September 16. /TASS/. Ukraine is facing a severe situation in the Black Sea, as it is completely sealed off for Kiev, Oleg Soskin, ex-advisor to former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, opined.
"Ukraine has found itself in a very difficult situation, to put it bluntly, I call it a ‘fire bag’ <…>. The sea is closed, and the situation in the Black Sea is dire," he said in a video posted on his YouTube channel.
Soskin added that the only way out for Ukrainian agricultural exports are the routes though Bulgaria, Moldova and Romania. However, he believes that the decision of Hungary, Poland and Slovakia to extend the ban on Ukrainian grain imports is a stab in the back.
"We have to call the things as they are, and this is a geopolitical and geo-economic blow. It is unprecedented," Kuchma’s ex-advisor assessed those countries’ moves.
"In fact, it is an overt geopolitical war against Ukraine," he emphasized.
In Soskin’s opinion, President Vladimir Zelensky and his team were not prepared for all those conditions.
Grain situation
The grain deal expired on July 17. The Russian Defense Ministry warned afterwards that from July 20 Moscow would view all the ships sailing across the Black Sea to Ukrainian ports as potentially shipping military cargoes, and their flag countries would be considered as involved in the Ukrainian conflict on Kiev’s side.
On August 10, the Ukrainian Navy announced the opening of temporary corridors in the Black Sea for merchant vessels sailing to/from the ports of Chernomorsk, Odessa and Yuzhny. Kiev warned that the risk of military attack and collision with mines persisted on the route, so passage would be granted only to vessels whose owners and captains officially confirm their readiness to sail in such conditions.
On Friday, the European Commission decided not to extend its ban on imports of Ukrainian grain and other agricultural goods, which was due to expire on September 15, but demanded that Kiev submit a plan of action to avoid market distortions in EU countries. After that, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia announced their own unilateral restrictions on Ukrainian grain imports. Zelensky has already promised to respond to "neighbors who violate EU rules.".