Fri 03 June 2022:
At a joint press conference with Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, Guterres stated the war has also worsened the energy and financial crises, hitting the most vulnerable countries and economies, Anadolu news agency reported.
He added urgent decisions are needed to ensure that Ukrainian grain and Russian fertilizers reach global markets.
The UN chief thanked Sweden for its unwavering support to the UN and multilateralism.
On Tuesday, Turkish Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin told journalists that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke to his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts over the phone about exporting Ukrainian agricultural products by sea.
Andersson, for her part, slammed the Russian attack on Ukraine, terming it an “unjustified, clear violation of international law”.
Accusing Russia of committing war crimes against the civilian population, she added, “Russia must be held accountable for its actions.”
Asked about Ankara’s stance over the country’s NATO bid, Andersson said she looks forwards to further constructive meetings with Turkey.
Sweden and Finland formally applied to join NATO on May 18, a decision spurred by Russia’s war on Ukraine, which began on February 24.
But Turkey, a longstanding member of the alliance, has voiced objections to their membership bids, criticizing the countries for tolerating and even supporting terrorist groups. The accession requires unanimous approval from all 30 NATO member states.
Last week, Turkey hosted Swedish and Finnish delegations in Ankara for consultations on their NATO applications. Erdogan later stressed the meetings had not been “at the desired level”.
Also on Wednesday, Pope Francis called for the urgent unblocking of Ukrainian ports to allow the resumption of wheat exports and stave off a global humanitarian crisis.
Speaking during his weekly audience in St Peter’s Square, the leader of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics expressed “great concern” for “the blockade of grain exports from Ukraine, on which the lives of millions of people depend, especially in the poorest countries”.
“I earnestly appeal for every effort to be made to resolve this issue and to guarantee the universal human right to food. Please do not use wheat, a staple food, as a weapon of war,” Francis insisted.
Efforts are ongoing to broker a deal between Kyiv and Moscow to allow grain to be exported again via the Black Sea, involving the UN, Turkey and the EU, but not much progress has been made so far.
NEWS AGENCIES
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:
TWITTER (CLICK HERE)
https://twitter.com/IpIndependent
FACEBOOK (CLICK HERE)
https://web.facebook.com/ipindependent
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
