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On Friday (June 3), the embattled country of Ukraine marked the 100th day since Russia invaded it.
Ukraine determined to defend the country
Over the past 100 days, Ukrainian military forces have repelled the Russian invasion in the north and northwest of the country, in fierce fighting around the capital Kyiv. However, it continues to face occupation and sustained fighting in the south and southeast, with much of the current fighting focused in the Donbas region, mainly around the city of Sievierodonetsk.
Speaking at a press briefing on June 3, the Ukrainian ambassador to Singapore, Kateryna Zelenko, the country's men and women are determined to defend Ukraine as long as Russian forces remain there.
Citing recent surveys, she said 82 per cent of Ukrainians "would not agree to cede territories in exchange for peace".
"A ceasefire in itself cannot be an objective. We must strive for the withdrawal of (the) Russian troops, and Ukraine has to liberate its territories based on the principle of maximum preservation people's lives," she said.
Noting that Ukraine's conflict with Russia has been ongoing since the 2014 takeover of Crimea and part of Eastern Ukraine, she also emphasised the resolve of Ukrainian resistance, saying "despite (the) low expectations of the outside world", the Ukrainian people have "been fighting a real 'people's war' for their freedom, their identity, and their right to exist".
In addition to the fighting on the ground, the Ukrainian and Russian governments are engaged in diplomatic and economic conflict, with the Ukrainian government blaming the Russian invasion for causing a global food crisis. Both Russia and Ukraine are among the top five grain exporting nations.
Blocked ports
Zelenko added that Ukraine is committed to fulfilling its export obligations to its global trading partners.
However, she claimed that this was almost impossible due to Russian blockades of Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea, highlighting the mining of the seas around the ports as a major obstacle.
Russia for its part has also accused Ukrainian naval mines as the main obstacle for Black Sea shipping. Meanwhile, some of the sea mines are now drifting freely in the Black Sea, adding even more peril to merchant ships.
The conflict in Ukraine is a reminder of how vital global trade is, and how reliant on optimal conditions it can be.
A report by Bloomberg highlights the fact that Ukraine uses Soviet-era trucks and train gauges, which hamper the transport of commodities overland to other European countries. Goods will have to be reloaded onto European standard transports in order to make the journey, delaying the process further.
Allegations that Russia has been stealing grain from Ukraine
Ukraine is also accusing Russia of stealing commodities, such as grain and steel, which are produced in occupied parts of Ukraine, and exporting them through occupied ports.
In a statement, Ukraine's Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food said farmers in Ukrainian territory had reported that Russians were "stealing their grain en masse", The Washington Post reported.
This has worsened the risk of food shortages for the Ukrainian people.
For its part, Russia has denied such allegations, branding them as "fake" and saying they have no idea where the information came from.
However, according to shipping industry news site Maritime Executive, which cited Russian state media TASS, Ukrainian grain "exports" are said to be ongoing, and that arrangements have been made for Russia to sell the grain.
In May, a Russian ship filled with Ukrainian grain was allegedly denied permission to offload the products in Egypt due to improper paperwork, Reuters reported. Instead, the grain was sent to Syria, a long standing Russian ally.
It wasn't just grain either.
A cargo of Ukrainian steel reportedly would be shipped from the Ukrainian city of Mariupol to the Russian port of Rostov-on-Don. No commercial transaction for the goods was mentioned, suggesting that the steel was moved illegally.
No solutions
Economic sanctions placed on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine have discouraged potential grain importers, even though Russian agricultural exports are not currently sanctioned. The removal of Russian banks from the SWIFT payment networks means that countries would be unable to provide payment even if they were willing to buy agricultural products from Russia.
This leads to an ever growing worry of significant global food shortages. Even places which have access to alternative food sources would face increased prices.
Ukraine and Russia have different possible solutions to this. Russia has offered to guarantee security of grain exports from Ukraine in return for the dropping of economic sanctions.
Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba, however, had dismissed the suggestion, saying that Russian security promises cannot be trusted even if they had "signed papers guaranteeing safe passage”.
However, until some kind of solution can be found, an estimated 22 million tons of Ukrainian grain is sitting in silos and is at danger of rotting away. As reported by Al Jazeera efforts spearheaded by United Nations officials are underway try to get grain shipments from both Ukraine and Russia underway but these efforts appear to be weeks away from finding a solution.
Top image via Kateryna Zelenko/Twitter