Ankara is awaiting a response from Moscow on organizing a possible meeting between Turkey, Russia, Ukraine and the UN to discuss the issue of exporting grain from Ukraine, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Saturday.
“Our position was stated very clearly. We are awaiting a response from the Russian side, both on the issue of holding the meeting and other details,” the Anadolu agency quotes him as saying.
“We stressed the Turkish side’s readiness to organize a quadripartite meeting in the UN-Turkey-Ukraine-Russia format. This is ultimately a UN initiative,” the minister said.
Cavusoglu said that during talks this week with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, he explained that the UN plan to transport grain from Ukraine by sea is the best.
Earlier this week, the Turkish Foreign Minister said that Ankara considers the UN plan to export grain from Ukraine feasible. He noted that discussions are underway on the creation of a “grain corridor” mechanism in the Black Sea with the participation of the UN, Russia, Ukraine and Turkey.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky expressed gratitude to the governments of Western countries and international organizations for financial support to Ukraine.
“I am grateful to the government of Britain, the leadership of the World Bank, the government of Canada for taking new steps in financial support for Ukraine,” he said in a video statement on the night of Friday to Saturday.
He said “the day before, our state received $1.5 billion: $1 billion from the World Bank, another $500 million from the UK. It is direct budget support.”
“We use it to pay wages in the public sector. Canada was the first country to send funds to our administrative account with the IMF, this is CAD 1 billion,” he said.
President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said she had arrived in Kyiv and intended to meet with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky.
“Good to be back in Kyiv. With President Volodymyr Zelensky I will take stock of the joint work needed for reconstruction and of the progress made by Ukraine on its European path,” she said on Twitter.
Ukraine and Moldova agreed to deepen cooperation in the field of food safety, as well as expand the list of permitted commodity items for export to Moldova, in particular, for pigs and composite products.
Relevant agreements were reached during a meeting between the head of the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection, Anatoliy Vovniuk, and Ambassador of the Republic of Moldova to Ukraine Valeriu Chiveri, according to the website of the Ukrainian department.
According to the Food Safety and Consumer Protection Service, as of today, 18 forms of veterinary certificates for export from Ukraine to Moldova have been agreed between the countries.
“During the Russian military aggression against the Ukrainian people, the support of friendly countries is extremely important for our state,” Vovniuk said.
American businessman and philanthropist Howard Buffett in Kyiv on June 8 met with representatives of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, where the parties discussed issues of food security, assistance to Ukrainian farmers during the future harvest and the sowing campaign of winter crops.
“The first of the world’s largest businessmen to visit Ukraine was Howard Buffett. He was the first to help Ukrainian farmers and households by donating seeds for spring field work through the World Central Kitchen. Howard in Kyiv met with the Ministry of Agrarian Policy,” MP Dmytro Solomchuk said on Telegram.
According to him, thanks to this meeting, “a lot of good news for Ukrainian farmers” will soon appear.
“It is a pleasure to welcome a true friend of Ukraine on our land. We need support today more than ever,” Solomchuk summed up in the message.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted that he had met with Buffett.
“Glad to meet Howard Buffett in Kyiv. We appreciate this signal of solidarity with Ukraine. Expressed gratitude for the humanitarian support to Ukraine. Invited him to join projects on restoring irrigation systems in Odesa region, supporting IDPs, demining and school nutrition reform,” the president of Ukraine wrote.
Howard Buffett is the son of Warren Buffett, who is in the top five richest people in the world according to Forbes with a fortune of $118 billion.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky will take part in the NATO summit, which will be held in Madrid on June 28-30, Deputy Secretary General of the North Atlantic Alliance Mircea Geoană said in an article in the Italian edition of La Reppublica.
According to him, the leaders of Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Japan will speak at the allied summit for the first time.
“The meeting ‘one way or another’ will be attended by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky,” Geoană was quoted as saying in the article.
He also noted that the summit would be truly transformative.
