Russian attacks on Black Sea delaying vital aid to Palestinians, Sir Keir Starmer warns

Russian attacks on the Black Sea is delaying vital aid from reaching Palestinians, Sir Keir Starmer has warned.

The prime minister said Vladimir Putin’s actions against Ukrainian port infrastructure are also preventing crucial grain supplies from being delivered to the global south in what he called a threat to global stability.

Sir Keir made the warning ahead of his visit to Samoa for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) where he will meet representatives of all 56 independent member states.

The UK has received intelligence showing that Russia is increasingly carrying out strikes on port infrastructure in the Black Sea – including at least four merchant vessels between 5 and 14 October.

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The strikes are believed to have delayed one ship from leaving Ukraine which carried the vegetable oil needed for the world food programme in Palestine.

The attacks also hit ships loaded with grain destined for Egypt and two vessels carrying corn and other world food programme shipments bound for southern Africa.

“Russia’s indiscriminate strikes on ports in the Black Sea underscore that Putin is willing to gamble on global food security in his attempts to force Ukraine into submission,” the prime minister said.

”In doing so, he is harming millions of vulnerable people across Africa, Asia and the Middle East, to try and gain the upper hand in his barbaric war.

“In recent weeks, we have seen reporting that the Kremlin has been forced to turn to North Korea to provide troops to fuel its self-destructing war machine, an embarrassing and desperate act, and now they are intensifying attacks on areas of Ukraine that support the global south with much-needed food.”

Sir Keir’s warning came after he met a group of British Palestinians who have family members trapped in Gaza on Tuesday.

The British Palestinian Families Network presented the prime minister with a list of 10 demands to help improve the situation, including the need for a child evacuation scheme.

The scheme would provide life-saving treatment for 15 critically injured children from Gaza by bringing them to the UK to receive specialised care.

“It is hard to talk about this collective trauma, but political leaders must hear our testimonies directly, so they understand the real-life impact of their policies,” one of the family members said.

“This would just be a tiny drop in the ocean, but it could be the start of something more. All we can hope is that they have not just heard what we have said, but have listened. Time will tell.”

The group also called for a Palestinian visa programme and measures by the UK to ensure medical aid enters Gaza despite Israel’s ongoing blockade.

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The prime minister will remain in Samoa until Saturday.

There has been mounting pressure from leaders of Caribbean nations to pay reparations for the impact of the transatlantic slave trade.

Downing Street has said Sir Keir remains opposed to apologising for the UK’s historical role in slavery and that the issue of reparations is “not on the agenda” at the summit despite calls from some of his own MPs.