UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visited Istanbul, Turkey, on Saturday and inspected the efforts of the Joint Coordination Center (JCC) in bringing Ukrainian grain to international markets.
The UN chief visited the JCC teams who were inspecting a vessel anchored at the Marmara Sea and received a briefing about the inspection process.
"Getting more food and fertilizers out of Ukraine and Russia is critical to further calm commodity markets and lower prices for consumers," said Guterres while addressing the JCC personnel and media at the JCC center.
"And the other part of this package deal is the unimpeded access to the global markets of Russian food and fertilizer, which are not subject to sanctions," Guterres added, hinting at the possible start of the exports from Russia, which was agreed upon but not yet implemented.
Together, Russia and Ukraine account for a vast amount of the world's exported grains and fertilizers.
Following a landmark deal signed respectively by Russia and Ukraine with Turkey under the UN auspices in July, the first grain-laden ship from Ukraine passed through Istanbul's Bosphorus Strait on August 3.
Up till now, 43 ships with more than 600,000 tons of cargo-carrying capacity have been authorized to join the efforts to transport Ukrainian grain, according to the data by the JCC.
As the food prices soared all over the globe, the successful start of the deal came as a big relief to many countries that depend on Russian and Ukrainian exports.
Guterres thanked all parties involved in the deal, stressing the importance of cooperation.
The UN chief visited the JCC teams who were inspecting a vessel anchored at the Marmara Sea and received a briefing about the inspection process.
"Getting more food and fertilizers out of Ukraine and Russia is critical to further calm commodity markets and lower prices for consumers," said Guterres while addressing the JCC personnel and media at the JCC center.
"And the other part of this package deal is the unimpeded access to the global markets of Russian food and fertilizer, which are not subject to sanctions," Guterres added, hinting at the possible start of the exports from Russia, which was agreed upon but not yet implemented.
Together, Russia and Ukraine account for a vast amount of the world's exported grains and fertilizers.
Following a landmark deal signed respectively by Russia and Ukraine with Turkey under the UN auspices in July, the first grain-laden ship from Ukraine passed through Istanbul's Bosphorus Strait on August 3.
Up till now, 43 ships with more than 600,000 tons of cargo-carrying capacity have been authorized to join the efforts to transport Ukrainian grain, according to the data by the JCC.
As the food prices soared all over the globe, the successful start of the deal came as a big relief to many countries that depend on Russian and Ukrainian exports.
Guterres thanked all parties involved in the deal, stressing the importance of cooperation.
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