As new developments encroach into the conflicts between them and Ukraine, Russia has welcomed the first shipment of grain from the port of Odesa on Ukraine’s Black Sea coast as a “positive’’ development.
“This is a good opportunity for testing the effectiveness of the functioning of mechanisms that were agreed during the negotiations in Istanbul,’’ Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said.
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This is according to the Interfax news agency which had been announced on Monday.
“We hope that the agreements will be fulfilled by all sides and that the mechanisms function effectively,’’ Peskov said.
The Razoni freighter carrying a cargo of 26,000 tonnes of maize under a Sierra Leone flag was headed for Lebanon. It was scheduled to make a stop at Istanbul on Tuesday, where it would undergo inspection.
In another report, The quest of the United States to dominate the oceans, as well as NATO’s expansion objectives, are the biggest threats confronting Russia, according to a new Russian naval doctrine signed by President Vladimir Putin on Sunday.
The 55-page document which was sighted by Africa Today News, New York claimed that the ‘main challenges and threats’ to national security and development were Washington’s ‘strategic objective to dominate the world’s oceans’ and NATO military infrastructure moving towards Russia’s borders.
‘Russia’s independent internal and external policy faces counter-measures from the United States and its allies, who aim to preserve their dominance in the world, including its oceans,’ said the doctrine, signed on Russian Navy Day.
Moscow views the Western military alliance — the Soviet Union’s enemy during the Cold War — as an existential threat, using Ukraine’s membership hopes to justify its offensive on February 24.
The doctrine said Moscow will seek to strengthen its leading position in exploring the Arctic and its mineral resources and maintain ‘strategic stability” thereby bolstering the potential of the northern and Pacific fleets.
It also mentioned Russia’s desire to develop a ‘safe and competitive’ sea route from Europe to Asia, known as the Northeast Passage, via the country’s Arctic coastline and ensure it worked throughout the year.
