US State Department condemes Russia's provocation concerning Turkish vessel
Principal Deputy Spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State, Vedant Patel (photo: GettyImages).
US State Department condemned provocative actions of the Russian fleet towards Turkish dry cargo vessel "Sukra Okan" in the Black Sea, which was en route to the Ukrainian port of Izmail, deeming it an "unacceptable escalation," according to the "Voice of America."
"This, in our opinion, is an unacceptable escalation, which once again demonstrates Moscow's responsibility for the fact that grain does not go where it should be delivered," mentioned the official at the press briefing.
Principal Deputy Spokesperson for the US Department of State reminded that, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, since Russia's cessation of participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative, the aggressor country has targeted 26 Ukrainian port infrastructure objects and destroyed over 220,000 tons of grain.
The US State Department representative added that Washington continues to "monitor this situation closely."
"And we are, of course, concerned that the Russian military may expand its targets for Ukrainian grain facilities by including attacks on civilian ships in the Black Sea, Patel said.
Patel emphasized that Russia must "rejoin the Black Sea Grain Initiative immediately."
Russian provocation in the Black Sea and the incident with the vessel "Sukra Okan"
On August 13, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that they had stopped a foreign vessel in the Black Sea, which was heading to the port of Izmail in the Odesa region.
In Russia's account, one of its military ships allegedly fired "warning shots" at the cargo vessel in the Black Sea after it did not respond to demands to stop.
Meanwhile, InformNapalm reported that the crew of the "Sukra Okan" did not comply with the Russian demands to stop, but instead temporarily changed course towards the coast of Türkish territorial waters.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine strongly condemned Russia's provocative actions concerning the Türkish dry cargo vessel "Sukra Okan" and noted that the Russian Navy had blatantly violated the UN Charter, the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and other norms of international law.
