UN CHIEF URGES MORE EFFORT TO ENSURE ACCESS TO UKRAINIAN GRAIN

Fri 19 August 2022:

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said there was still much more to do to ensure full global access to Ukrainian food products and Russian food and fertilisers after a UN-brokered food export deal.

At a briefing in Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa, Guterres said developing countries needed help to buy such grain and called for unimpeded access to global markets for Russian food and fertilisers which are not subject to sanctions.

“This is an agreement between two parties locked in bitter conflict. It is unprecedented in scope and scale. But there is still a long way to go on many fronts,” he said.

“It is time for massive and generous support so developing countries can purchase the food from this and other ports – and people can buy it,” he said.

UN chief arrives in Odesa

UN Secretary-General António Guterres is visiting the Black Sea port of Odesa during his visit to Ukraine, focusing on a deal to allow Ukrainian grain to be shipped to world markets.

Guterres and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a high level meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in eastern Ukraine on Thursday.

Earlier this summer, the UN and Turkey brokered an agreement clearing the way for Ukraine to export 22 million tons of corn and other grain stuck in its Black Sea ports since the Russian invasion.

The blockage has worsened world food shortages, driven up prices and heightened fears of famine, especially in Africa.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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