JAKARTA - Russia's decision to regard all ships bound for Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea as carriers of cargo for military purposes deprives Ukraine of opportunities to earn from its grain exports, so Brussels will increase its military aid to Kyiv, says the EU's top diplomat Josep Borrell.
Russia's decision "is a step further in continuing to prevent Ukraine from exporting their grain. This has two consequences, firstly for Ukraine itself, depriving it of resources," Borrell said ahead of a meeting of the European Union's Foreign Affairs Council.
"There is only one solution: increase military support for Ukraine. If they are bombed, we must provide anti-air capacity. If Russia uses drones, we must provide anti-aircraft capacity," Borrell explained, quoted from TASS, July 21.
"I will be presenting a proposal to increase, I don't want to say the numbers now, but after the meeting, in a quite important way the capacity of the European Peace Facility. This is getting very serious," he continued.
Borrell hopes EU ministers will support the proposal.
Borrell on Thursday confirmed the European Union was preparing Ukraine for years of military conflict, as he said Kyiv needed a plan for supplies that lasted over the long term, not just over months.
Borrell confirmed information EU foreign ministers would discuss the consequences of ending the Black Sea grain deal on July 20.
He accused Russia of deliberately destroying grain supplies at the Black Sea port of Odessa, saying the move escalated the conflict.
The diplomat said the European Union Foreign Affairs Council was considering the situation on Thursday, aiming to get more information from Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, who will join the meeting via video link.
"But what we already know is, this is going to create a huge food crisis in the world," Borrell said.
"We will listen to Kuleba. We will discuss how to continue to support Ukraine in the long term," he said.
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Russia has decided not to extend a Black Sea grain export deal that ended on Monday. Russia said part of its conditions to extend the deal had not been implemented. And, Moscow is ready to return to the deal once those terms are implemented.
Two days later, Moscow's Russian Ministry of Defense will consider all ships bound for Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea as carriers of military cargo, starting at 12:00 p.m. Moscow time on July 20, in a move linked to terminating the grain deal.
The ministry also stated that several sea areas in the international waters northwest and southeast of the Black Sea were temporarily declared dangerous for navigation.
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