Ukraine is open to discussing issue of Hormuz Strait – Zelenskyy
Ukraine’s signal to the United States and the countries of the Middle East regarding the Hormuz Strait was that it is open to discussing this issue.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this in an interview with NewsNation, Censor.NET reports.
Joint steps are needed
"As of today, I do not see any country that could lift the blockade on its own — only joint steps can produce results. Ukraine has experience in launching a grain corridor in the Black Sea despite Russia’s attempts to block supplies of food and other goods. The situation now is similar, but this is about energy," the president noted.
Ukraine’s proposal
Zelenskyy also outlined Ukraine’s proposal "based on our experience": war and negotiations on opening the Hormuz Strait can proceed in parallel. It is worth trying to find a diplomatic solution, and this could be beneficial to both sides in the war.
What is the alternative?
According to Zelenskyy, an alternative step could be establishing unilateral control over the strait, as Ukraine did with the grain corridor. This would require interceptors, military convoys to escort ships, a large integrated electronic warfare (EW) network, and other tools.
"We are ready to help with this. But at this stage, we are not yet involved. So far, no one has approached us with such a request. We are only sharing our knowledge. If one day our partners want to use it, we will be ready," the president added.
Background
As reported earlier by Censor.NET, the Hormuz Strait is one of the world’s key transport arteries — about one-third of global oil trade and more than a quarter of liquefied gas supplies pass through it.
Its blockage immediately affects global energy prices, disrupts supply logistics, and creates risks to the energy security of both Europe and the global market, since for most countries in the region, there are effectively no alternative export routes.
- As a reminder, on March 27, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced the closure of the Hormuz Strait to ship traffic. The statement said that the passage of all vessels heading to or departing from ports linked to the "Israeli-American alliance" is banned, regardless of route.
- At the same time, Marco Rubio said that US allies should play a more active role in ensuring the security of shipping in the Hormuz Strait amid the worsening situation in the region.
