Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday asked the UN and Turkey to extend, without Russia’s participation, an initiative to allow the export of Ukrainian grains through the Black Sea after Moscow’s withdrawal.
“I have sent official letters to the President of Turkey. [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan and the UN Secretary General, [António] Guterres with a proposal to continue the Black Sea Grain Initiative or its equivalent in a trilateral format,” Zelensky emphasized in his usual evening address to the people.
The Kyiv authorities want the international community to guarantee, even without Moscow’s consent, the freedom of navigation in the Black Sea, which has been violated by the Russian army since the start of a large-scale military invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.