Unsurprisingly, the meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Turkish Head of State Recep Tayyip Erdogan, this Thursday in Lviv (West), did not result in announcements important but rather reminders of support between the two States and the organization.
More grain exports
Main novelty, Antonio Guterres promised that the UN would strive to "intensify" Ukrainian grain exports before the onset of winter.
“We will do our best to intensify our operations in order to face the difficulties of the coming winter”, he declared while these are crucial for the food supply of many African countries.
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A total of 25 ships loaded with grain have so far left Ukrainian ports since the signing of an agreement by kyiv and Moscow under the aegis of the UN and Turkey.
"Let us have no illusions: there is still a long way to go before this translates into people's daily lives, in their bakeries and in the markets", he nuanced, pointing to the " disrupted supply chains" and "unacceptable energy and transport costs".
Fear of a “new Chernobyl”
After asserting Ankara's support for kyiv, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was making his first visit to Ukraine since the Russian invasion, expressed alarm at the risk of a nuclear disaster at the Zaporijjia power plant.
" We are worried.
We don't want to experience a new Chernobyl,” declared the Turkish head of state while this plant, occupied by Russia, is regularly the target of strikes of which Moscow and kyiv accuse each other.
The UN must "ensure the security of this strategic site, its demilitarization and its complete liberation from Russian troops," Volodymyr Zelensky said in the afternoon, denouncing the "deliberate terror" provoked by Russia, which "may have major catastrophic consequences for the whole world”.
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The UN Secretary General recalled for his part that damaging the plant would be “suicide”.
Saying he was "gravely concerned" by the situation in Europe's largest nuclear power plant, he called for it not to be used "for any military operation whatsoever".
"An agreement is urgently needed to restore Zaporizhia as a purely civilian infrastructure and to ensure the security of the region," said Antonio Guterres.
No peace without a Russian withdrawal
The Ukrainian President has finally ruled out any peace negotiations with Moscow without the prior withdrawal of Russian troops from the territory of Ukraine.
“People who kill, rape, hit our civilian cities with cruise missiles every day cannot want peace.
They should first leave our territory, then we will see,” he said, saying “not to trust Russia”.
On Friday, Antonio Guterres planned to go to the strategic port of Odessa, the starting point for Ukrainian cereals.
He should then go to Turkey to visit the Joint Coordination Center (CCC) which oversees the application of the agreement signed by Russia and Ukraine, which has allowed the resumption of exports.
