UN chief arrives in Ukraine to meet Zelenskyy and president of Türkiye

By Betul Yuruk

UNITED NATIONS (AA) - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres arrived in the Ukrainian city of Lviv on Wednesday for a trilateral meeting with the Ukrainian and Turkish presidents to oversee a recently-brokered grain deal, his spokesperson said on Twitter.

The visit is aimed at increasing the activities of the mechanism established for the export of Ukrainian grain to world markets, in a bid to address global food instability.

Guterres will meet President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday. He is also scheduled to visit the port city Odesa to view the movement of grain.

Following his trilateral meeting in Lviv, Guterres will visit the Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul, formed as part of the landmark deal, to carry out inspections on Aug. 20.

Meanwhile, Türkiye's Communications Directorate said in a statement that the leaders would also discuss potential steps to end the Russia-Ukraine war through diplomatic means during the meeting.

On July 22, Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine signed a deal in Istanbul to reopen three Ukrainian Black Sea ports for exporting Ukrainian grain stuck due to the Russia-Ukraine war, which is now in its sixth month.

To oversee the process, the Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul was officially launched on July 27, comprising representatives from the three countries and the UN, to enable the safe transportation of commercial foodstuffs and fertilizers by merchant ships.

Since the first departure on Aug. 1, a total of 25 ships carrying grain and wheat have left Ukrainian ports under the deal.