Ukraine Zaporizhia power plant grain what to remember from Zelenskyi

Ukraine: Zaporizhia power plant, grain… what to remember from Zelenskyi Erdogan Guterres meeting

Not surprisingly, the meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan this Thursday in Lviv (west) did not result in any major announcements, but rather reminders of the support between the two states and the organization .

More grain exports

As the most important innovation, Antonio Guterres promised that the UN would try to “step up” Ukrainian grain exports before the onset of winter. “We will do our best to step up our operations to face the difficulties of the coming winter,” he said, while these are vital to the food supply of many African countries.

Since the signing of an agreement between Kyiv and Moscow under the aegis of the United Nations and Turkey, a total of 25 ships loaded with grain have left Ukrainian ports so far.

“Let’s not delude ourselves: there is still a long way to go before this is reflected in people’s everyday lives, in their bakeries and on the markets,” he nuanced, referring to “disrupted supply chains” and “unacceptable energy and transport costs”. “.

Fear of a “new Chernobyl”

After vowing Ankara’s support for Kyiv, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was visiting Ukraine for the first time since the Russian invasion, expressed concern about the threat of a nuclear disaster at the Zaporijia nuclear power plant. “We’re worried. We don’t want to see another Chernobyl,” the Turkish leader said, while the Russian-occupied plant is a regular target of strikes that Moscow and Kyiv blame each other for.

The UN must “ensure the security of this strategic location, its demilitarization and its complete liberation from Russian troops,” said Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the afternoon, denouncing the “premeditated terror” provoked by Russia, which “can have great catastrophic consequences for the whole”. . World”.

VIDEO. “Time is serious”: Zaporizhia nuclear power plant bombed again in Ukraine

For his part, the UN Secretary-General reminded that damaging the facility would be “suicide”. He was “deeply concerned” about the situation in Europe’s largest nuclear power plant and called for it “not to be used for any military operation”. “An agreement is urgently needed to restore Zaporozhye 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 definitively ruled out peace talks with Moscow without first withdrawing Russian troops from Ukraine’s territory. “People who kill, rape, hit with cruise missiles our civilian cities every day cannot want peace. You should leave our territory first, then we’ll see,” he said, saying “not to trust Russia.”

On Friday, Antonio Guterres planned to head to the strategic port of Odessa, the departure point for Ukrainian grain. He was then supposed to travel to Turkey to visit the Joint Coordination Center (CCC), which oversees the application of the agreement signed by Russia and Ukraine allowing exports to resume.