United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is due to meet Ukrainian Presidents Volodymyr Zelensky and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Lviv on Thursday. They will discuss the situation in the country almost six months after its invasion.
The three men will discuss the recent agreement on the export of Ukrainian cereals but also “the need for a political solution to this conflict”, said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric. “I have no doubt (that) the issue of the nuclear power plant (of Zaporizhia) and others will also be discussed.”
In his traditional evening statement, Mr. Zelensky said on Wednesday that Mr. Guterres had “already arrived in Ukraine. We will work together to achieve the necessary results for Ukraine”.
The Secretary General is also to meet bilaterally with Mr. Zelensky. He then planned to travel to Odessa, one of the three ports used under the grain export deal, on Friday before traveling to Turkey to visit the Joint Coordination Center (JCC) responsible for overseeing the deal. .
According to the United Nations, between August 1 and 15, 21 bulk carriers were allowed to set sail. They were carrying a total of 563,317 tons of agricultural raw materials, including 451,481 tons of corn. But the first humanitarian ship chartered by the UN, loaded with 23,000 tonnes of wheat, left Ukraine only on Tuesday for Ethiopia as part of this agreement concluded in July under the aegis of the UN. and thanks to Turkish mediation.
Food risk
Ukraine and Russia are among the world’s largest grain exporters, which have seen prices soar since the Russian invasion on February 24. According to the World Food Programme, a record 345 million people in 82 countries face acute food insecurity, while up to 50 million people in 45 countries are at risk of starvation without humanitarian assistance.
The Ukrainian President continued his all-out mobilization on the diplomatic front. “Diplomacy in the interest of our country has been very active in recent days”, noted Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday evening, reporting the holding of a ceremony during the day to welcome the new ambassadors of Spain, Belgium, Kyrgyzstan and Romania.
“Fifty-five diplomatic missions have already resumed their work,” he said. He seeks to obtain financial and material aid for his country and also pleads for more severe sanctions against Moscow.
“Cynical Attack”
On the ground, the fighting continues and causes new civilian victims, such as in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city, where according to the country’s authorities a missile hit a three-storey residential building on Wednesday during a Russian bombardment causing “a powerful fire “.
“At this stage, there are seven dead and seventeen wounded,” said Igor Terekhov, mayor of Kharkiv, revising upwards the previous toll of six dead and sixteen wounded. Mr. Zelensky had earlier denounced a “despicable and cynical attack”.
Located about forty kilometers from the Russian border, Kharkiv is regularly shelled by the Russian army but it has never managed to seize it. Hundreds of civilians were killed in this region, according to the authorities.
Nuclear risk
The situation remained tense around the Zaporijjia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, occupied since the beginning of March by the Russian army and targeted by repeated bombardments. Moscow and kyiv have accused each other of these bombings.
Strikes once landed near a radioactive storage building and another time caused a reactor to shut down automatically. Ukraine must prepare for “all scenarios”, warned the Ukrainian Minister of the Interior on Wednesday.
“Nobody could foresee that the Russian troops were going to shoot at nuclear reactors using tanks. It was unheard of,” accused Denys Monastyrsky during a trip to Zaporijjia, a town located about fifty kilometers away. bird’s eye view of this installation.
“We must prepare for all possible scenarios,” he warned, accusing Russia of being a “terrorist state (…) As long as Russia controls the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, there are big risks”. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday it was “urgent” for an “inspection” by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to take place at the plant.
This article has been published automatically. Sources: ats / afp