US condemns Russian attack on Odesa port in Ukraine

Washington [US], July 24 (ANI): The US on Saturday condemned Russia's attack on the port of Odesa in Ukraine.
Russian missile attack reportedly came after a day when the deal was signed by Ukraine and Russia to unblock grain exports amid global food shortages caused due to war.
"The United States strongly condemns the Russian missile attack on the Ukrainian port of Odesa today. Just 24 hours after finalizing a deal to allow the resumption of Ukrainian agricultural exports through the Black Sea, Russia breached its commitments by attacking the historic port from which grain and agricultural exports would again be transported under this arrangement," read US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken press statement.
The Black Sea Grain Initiative, signed respectively by Russia and Ukraine on Friday with Turkey under the auspices of the UN in Istanbul, would allow significant volumes of commercial food and fertilizer exports from three key ports in the Black Sea -- Odesa, Chernomorsk, and Yuzhny, the UN said in a statement on its website.
"The Kremlin continues to show disregard for the safety and security of millions of civilians as it perpetuates its assault on Ukraine. Russia is starving Ukraine of its economic vitality and the world of its food supply through the effective blockade of the Black Sea," added Blinken's statement.
However, Russia denied attacks on the Ukrainian port after the grain deal.
Russian officials told Ankara that Russia had "nothing to do" with the attacks on Ukraine's key Black Sea port of Odesa, said Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar.
"In our contact with Russia, the Russians told us that they had absolutely nothing to do with these attacks and that they were examining the issue very closely and in detail," Akar told Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency.
Blinken further said that the attack casts serious doubt on the credibility of Russia's commitment to yesterday's deal and undermines the work of the UN, Turkey, and Ukraine to get critical food to world markets.
"Russia bears responsibility for deepening the global food crisis and must stop its aggression and fully implement the deal to which it has agreed," added the statement.
Meanwhile, the UN and EU condemned the strike on Odessa, reported France24.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres "unequivocally" condemned the attack.
"The Secretary-General unequivocally condemns reported strikes today in the Ukrainian port of Odesa," his deputy spokesman Farhan Haq says in a statement.
"Full implementation (of the deal) by the Russian Federation, Ukraine and Turkey is imperative," Haq adds.
The European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell slams what he called Russia's "reprehensible" missile attack.
"Striking a target crucial for grain export a day after the signature of (the) Istanbul agreements is particularly reprehensible and again demonstrates Russia's total disregard for international law and commitments," he tweeted.
Earlier, on Friday, a deal was reached between Ukraine and Russia where Russia promised to unblock ports on the Black Sea to allow the safe passage of grain and oilseeds, some of Ukraine's most important exports. (ANI)