UPDATE - UN chief to meet Turkish, Ukrainian presidents in Lviv

UPDATES WITH STATEMENT BY TURKISH COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTORATE

ANKARA (AA) - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday that he will meet with Turkish and Ukrainian presidents in Ukraine's Lviv city on Aug. 18.

Guterres will also visit the Joint Coordination Center (JCC) in Istanbul, formed as part of a historic deal to oversee the Ukraine grain deal, on Aug. 20 after meeting with Türkiye's Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

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

Since the first departure on Aug. 1, a total of 21 ships carrying grain and wheat have so far left Ukrainian ports under the deal.

Meanwhile, Türkiye's Communications Directorate said in a statement that Erdogan will pay a one-day working visit to Lviv on the invitation of Zelenskyy.

Erdogan and Zelenskyy will discuss all aspects of Türkiye-Ukraine relations at the strategic partnership level, according to the statement.

As part of the visit, the leaders will meet with Guterres to hold a trilateral meeting.

"During the meeting, the steps that can be taken to end the Ukraine-Russia war through diplomatic means, by increasing the activities of the mechanism established for the export of Ukrainian grain to the world markets, will be discussed," it added.