KYIV: Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday he had asked the head of NATO to convene a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council to discuss security in the Black Sea, particularly the operation of a corridor for Ukrainian grain exports.
Russia this week pulled out of the UN-backed grain corridor deal, saying Western countries had ignored its demands to ensure Moscow’s food and fertilizer exports. Russia said ships heading to Ukraine’s Black Sea ports could be considered military targets.
In his nightly video address, Zelensky said he had asked NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during a telephone call to convene the council, which was set up at this month’s NATO summit.
“In our cooperation, we have moved to a new, more advanced level, the NATO-Ukraine Council, and this mechanism can have an impact,” Zelensky said.
“I proposed to Jens that the council be convened without delay for relevant crisis consultations. The meeting will take place in the coming days. We can overcome the security crisis in the Black Sea.”
There was no immediate indication whether NATO had agreed to such a proposal.
The United Nations’ aid chief told the UN Security Council on Friday that a spike in grain prices since Russia quit the deal “potentially threatens hunger and worse for millions of people.”
Zelensky wants NATO-Ukraine Council to meet over Black Sea grain issue
https://arab.news/4xd6m
Zelensky wants NATO-Ukraine Council to meet over Black Sea grain issue
- Russia this week pulled out of the UN-backed grain corridor deal
- Zelenskiy said he had asked NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during a telephone call to convene the council
Thousands of Venezuelans march to demand Maduro’s release
- Several demonstrators, many of them public sector workers, held photos of Maduro and of his wife, Cilia Flores, who were both seized by US forces on January 3 to stand trial on drug charges in New York
CARACAS: Thousands of backers of Venezuela’s former leader Nicolas Maduro, ousted in a deadly US military operation a month ago, marched in Caracas on Tuesday to demand his freedom.
“Venezuela needs Nicolas,” chanted the crowd, as stand-in President Delcy Rodriguez navigates a tightrope between holding on to support from Washington but also from Maduro acolytes in her government and the Venezuelan people.
Several demonstrators, many of them public sector workers, held photos of Maduro and of his wife, Cilia Flores, who were both seized by US forces on January 3 to stand trial on drug charges in New York.
Called by the government, the march stretched for several hundred meters, accompanied by trucks blaring music.
Many protesters waved Venezuelan flags and were dressed in the red colors of the ruling “Chavista” movement named after Maduro’s socialist predecessor Hugo Chavez.
“We feel confused, sad, angry. There are a lot of emotions,” said Jose Perdomo, a 58-year-old municipal employee who also declared his backing “for the decisions taken by our interim president, Delcy Rodriguez.”
He added that “sooner or later they will have to free our president.”
US President Donald Trump has said he is willing to work with Rodriguez as long as she toes Washington’s line, particularly on granting access to Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.
Under pressure, Rodriguez has started freeing political prisoners and opened Venezuela’s nationalized hydrocarbons industry to private investment.
She was a staunch backer of Maduro, and served as his vice president.
