UN Secretary-General Guterres praises cooperation with Moscow, Kyiv, Ankara, Brussels and Washington
Hundreds of millions of people face unprecedented starvation as Russia blocks Ukrainian grain exports. The UN is now trying to find a deal – apparently with good prospects.
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New York.The United Nations is seeking an agreement to unblock Ukrainian grain exports and Russian food and fertilizer shipments to world markets. UN Secretary-General António Guterres said this to UN correspondents on Wednesday. Without such an agreement, hundreds of millions of people are at risk of an unprecedented wave of hunger. The UN sought a deal that would allow Ukrainian grain exports across the Black Sea and free access to world markets for Russian food and fertilizers.
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“Ukraine’s food production and Russian-produced food and fertilizers must be brought to world markets despite the war,” Guterres said. In the past ten days, good cooperation with contacts in Moscow, Kyiv, Ankara, Brussels and Washington had been established, he explained. He did not want to comment on the details so as not to jeopardize the chances of success.
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“This is one of those moments when quiet diplomacy is necessary, and the well-being of millions of people around the world could depend on it,” Guterres said. Secretary-General of the UN Conference on Trade and Development Rebeca Grynspan added that the “discussions have been very constructive”.
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Ukraine and Russia produce almost a third of the world’s wheat and barley and half of its sunflower oil. Russia and its ally Belarus are the second and third largest producers of potash, a key ingredient in fertilizer, respectively.
/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/madsack/JVOJOY5ILFCFHIF6EO5SQONEYM.jpeg?fit=%2C&ssl=1 "Blocked grain exports from Ukraine: Because of possible famine")
