U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio praised India's ceasefire initiative but said the strategic value of Black Sea strikes complicates a maritime truce on a route used for Ukrainian food exports.
In an interview with The Indian Express published Oct. 21, Rubio said he had reviewed a text prepared by India about a week and a half before the interview. He commended Indian diplomats for trying to bring Russia and Ukraine together. He did not say whether either side had accepted the proposal.
Rubio said strikes in the waterway have “strategic value to the combatants,” making an agreement on maritime attacks difficult to reach.
Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha met in Kyiv on Sept. 3. Ukraine's foreign ministry said they discussed movement through the Black Sea, food security and how India might contribute to peace efforts.
The United Kingdom said in an Oct. 7 statement to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe that merchant ships had been attacked off Romania and Bulgaria. It said investigations were underway. Ukraine's foreign ministry has said attacks on civilian vessels increase shipping, insurance and transport costs.
Interfax reported that Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov welcomed India's diplomatic efforts at an Oct. 8 briefing but argued that agreements on individual issues would fall short of settling the wider conflict.
Under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, 45 countries received Ukrainian grain and other foodstuffs totaling nearly 33 million metric tons, according to the United Nations. The United Nations and Türkiye brokered the arrangement in July 2022. Russia declined to renew it after July 18, 2023.
