Simon Coveney visits Ukrainian port of Odesa

Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney, is visiting the Ukrainian port city of Odesa on Wednesday.

Mr Coveney crossed the Palanca border crossing between Moldova and Ukraine early on Wednesday morning.

He is meeting Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba in the besieged port city where vital grain shipments have resumed through the Black Sea.

It the second visit by Mr Coveney to Ukraine since the Russian invasion last March. He visited Kyiv in April to witness the impact of Russian shelling on the capital city.

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As he crossed the border on Wednesday, the Minister said he hoped to get an update on the war and also to learn of Ukrainian territorial gains in recent days.

He will also report to the UN Security Council next week in New York on the issue of food security and the Black Sea Grain Initiative in Odessa. The initiative was negotiated between the two warring countries last April and facilitates the export of grain across the Black Sea from Odessa.

During his short trip, Mr Coveney will also be briefed by the head of Odesa military operations and the head of the Ukrainian navy operations.

He will be accompanied on the trip by Lithuanian foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis. Both politicians will hold a press conference in Odesa later in the afternoon.

The Ukrainian foreign minister, Mr Kuleba, is expected to brief the Irish and Lithuanian teams on the six-reactor Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and share the latest assessment on its security and integrity.

The Russian-built plant is the largest nuclear facility in Europe. It has been occupied by Russian forces since March and has been damaged by shelling.

With the outbreak of war on February 24th, Russia blockaded Ukrainian ports and halted the export of wheat, corn and sunflower oil.

Over the following weeks, 22 million tonnes of grain awaiting export built up. In June 2022 only 2.5 million tonnes were exported compared to an average of eight million tonnes a month before the war. With this year’s harvest beginning, storage facilities are under extreme pressure.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative was agreed at the end of July to allow exports to resume. To date more than 250 successful voyages have been undertaken. Mr Coveney will visit a vessel due to depart this evening.