Washington, July 31 (Representative) US Secretary of State Antony Blinken conversed with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on July 29 to discuss his phone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov from earlier that day and the UN-backed grain deal, the State Department said on Saturday. Blinken offered his condolences over the death of 50 Ukrainian military prisoners in a missile strike at a jail in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) town of Olenivka on Friday. The Russian defense ministry believes the attack had been carried out by Ukraine itself, as fragments of US-supplied HIMARS missiles were found at the site.
“The two also reiterated the need for swift implementation of the UN-brokered grain transport deal among Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine. The Secretary noted that Russia’s continued blockage of Ukrainian food exports by sea has further exacerbated global food insecurity. The Secretary expressed his hope that the first ships would be able to depart Ukraine’s ports without further delay. He also provided a readout of his call with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a readout. On Friday, Blinken called Lavrov to discuss US-Russia relations and Ukraine. On July 22, four-way negotiations in Istanbul brokered by the United Nations resulted in agreements to resume grain exports in the Black Sea through three Ukrainian ports and clear the way for Russian food and fertilizers to access global markets, in an effort to stabilize surging food prices worldwide.