UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres vowed on Thursday that his organization would work to “intensify” Ukraine’s grain exports before the onset of winter, as it is crucial for food supplies to many African countries.
“We will do everything possible to intensify our operations to face the difficulties of the coming winter,” Guterres said after a trilateral meeting in Lviv, western Ukraine, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Still “a long way” before a drop in food prices
A total of 25 ships loaded with grain have so far left Ukrainian ports since the signing of an agreement between Kyiv and Moscow under the aegis of the UN and Turkey. Blocking these exports for months after the Russian invasion sent food prices soaring and raised fears of famine in some countries.
He welcomed the “beginning of stabilization” of the markets in this sector since the agreement between Russia and Ukraine, two of the world’s largest grain exporters.
“Let’s not get our hopes up: there is still a long way to go before this translates into people’s daily lives, in their bakeries and in markets,” he added, pointing to “disrupted supply chains” and ” unacceptable energy and transport costs”. “.
Source: BFM TV
