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    UN Secretary General visits Odessa as strikes batter Donbas

    ODESSA, UKRAINE (AFP) – United Nations chief Antonio Guterres was in war-scarred southern Ukraine’s main port of Odessa yesterday, a day after he said Turkey and Ukraine hoped to scale up their landmark grain export deal with Russia.

    The visit was due as Russian forces pursued a relentless bombardment campaign in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region.

    As part of the UN chief’s visit to Ukraine, he met with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who helped broker the grain deal inked in Istanbul, and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

    At a joint press conference with the three leaders, Guterres said the UN aimed to “scale-up” operations under the deal ahead of winter.

    The only significant agreement between Russia and Ukraine since Moscow invaded in February, has so far seen 25 boats carrying some 600,000 tonnes of agricultural products depart from three designated ports, Kyiv has said.

    Zelenskyy told Erdogan and Guterres at the press conference he believes it is a “global need to increase the number of vessels that safely export Ukrainian food”.

    “Our state is ready to be and will be the guarantor of global food security,” Zelenskyy added.

    The agreement between Kyiv and Moscow to clear exit corridors from three Ukrainian ports, including Odessa, has brought some relief to concerns of global food shortage with the warring countries among the world’s leading producers.

    United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks to media during his visit to Lviv State University. PHOTO: AFP
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