Zelensky asks UAE to help secure Black Sea routes

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held a phone call with UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Saturday, August 1, to discuss the security of Black Sea maritime routes and strengthening global food security.

In his evening video address, Zelensky said Ukraine had earned the goodwill of Gulf partners through its contribution to regional security.

“Ukraine always helps those who help us. This year, Ukrainians made a significant contribution to the security of our partners in the Gulf region. We have now discussed how the UAE can help us in Europe, specifically in the Black Sea region. This concerns food security, the security of maritime routes, and expanding our ability to protect people’s lives,” Zelensky said, according to a statement on the president’s official website.

The UAE’s official news agency WAM confirmed the talks took place but offered a restrained account, saying the leaders discussed strengthening cooperation “in various areas of mutual interest,” without directly mentioning maritime security. Zelensky also thanked the UAE leader for his role in facilitating prisoner exchanges between Russia and Ukraine.

Grain corridor under attack

The talks come against the backdrop of a crisis in Ukraine’s Black Sea grain corridor. Throughout July, Russian forces attacked 28 civilian vessels in the ports of Greater Odesa: 21 people were killed and 34 were wounded, according to the Odesa regional prosecutor’s office. A missile strike on July 19 hit a cargo vessel carrying corn, killing 10 crew members. According to Zelensky, by July 22 no vessels were able to enter Ukrainian ports. In the midst of the harvest season, around 90 percent of shipowners suspended calls to Ukraine’s Black Sea ports.

Russia’s Grain Exporters Union warned that continued disruptions could lead to a shortfall in Russian wheat exports of between 30 and 35 million metric tons, representing about 15 percent of global wheat trade, Reuters reports.

Iran poses a new threat

The crisis deepened after a Ukrainian drone attacked an Iranian merchant vessel in the Caspian Sea in late July, killing one sailor and wounding another, Reuters reports. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused Ukraine of acting on Israel’s orders and warned that the attack “will not go unanswered.” Ukraine stated that the target was vessels carrying military cargo of Iranian origin to Russia.

Intensive diplomatic talks followed the incident: Ukraine’s foreign minister called his Iranian counterpart and assured him that the strike was “unintentional,” but Tehran was reportedly considering a retaliatory strike on one of Ukraine’s maritime ports.

The Caspian incident further strained an already hostile relationship between the two countries, which has been marked by Iran’s supply of Shahed strike drones to Russia and Ukraine’s designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization.