Kallas tells EU Parliament Black Sea ship attacks are 'unacceptable escalation'; NATO to send additional assets

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told the European Parliament on Tuesday 20 October that vessels in the Black Sea had come under attack six times in ten days, calling it “a dangerous and unacceptable escalation”, Euronews reported. The strikes, which the EU attributes to Russian drones, have hit ships off the coasts of Romania and Bulgaria, both EU and NATO members.

Kallas said Ukraine was losing about €60 million a day in export revenue and accused the Kremlin of trying to cut off Ukraine’s income. “Russia’s actions make it harder to put food on people’s plates across the world,” she said. She said global grain stocks were larger than in 2022, but that the food system faced “a perfect storm” of a super El Niño, drought and disruption to fertiliser exports from the Middle East conflict.

She also said the EU’s overland “solidarity lanes” for Ukrainian goods were at risk, as Russia targets border crossings with Moldova, Romania and Poland, according to Euronews.

NATO spokesperson Allison Hart said later on Tuesday that the alliance “will be sending additional assets to the region, including support for surveillance, reconnaissance, and forensics”.

Last week, EU leaders called for safe passage for civilian shipping in the Black Sea to be restored immediately, Euronews reported.

Background: Ukraine is one of the world’s leading exporters of wheat, maize and barley, most of it shipped via the Black Sea.