Ukraine, Lviv. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres – visit, meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met on Thursday in Lviv with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. As Zelenski said, the main topics of the talks were grain exports and concerns about the Russian occupation of the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant.

President Zelenskiy informed that during talks with the boss The United Nations Antonio Guterres, attention was drawn to “nuclear blackmail Russia“At Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant.” This deliberate terror by the aggressor could have catastrophic consequences for the whole world, wrote the Ukrainian leader on Telegram.

“That is why the UN must ensure the security of this strategic facility, demilitarize it and completely free it from Russian soldiers,” he said.

A conversation between Volodymyr Zelensky and the President of Turkey and the Secretary General of the United NationsReuters

As Zelenski added, he also talked with the UN secretary general about the export of Ukrainian grain, the forced deportation of Ukrainians and the release of Ukrainian prisoners held by the Russians.

Erdogan at the airport in Jasionka

The leaders’ meeting was announced on Tuesday by UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric. – At the invitation of President Zelensky, the secretary general will travel to Lviv on Thursday to take part in a tripartite meeting with the president Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the leader Ukraine he said. He added that on Friday Guterres will travel to Odessa and then to Turkey.

Volodymyr Zelensky met with Recep Tayyip Erdogantccb.gov.tr

Erdogan traveled to Lviv through Poland. On Thursday morning his plane flew from Ankara to the airport in Jasionka near Rzeszów. He was welcomed by the Turkish ambassador to Poland, Cengiz Kamil Firat, and the second Podkarpackie Voivode, Radosław Wiatr.

As Reuters emphasized, the tripartite meeting is Erdogan’s first conversation with Zelensky since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24. The agency stressed that the Turkish leader had already met with the Russian president twice since then Vladimir Putin.

Antonio Guterres and Recep Tayyip Erdogan during talks in Istanbul (photo from July 22)SEDAT SUNA / PAP / EPA

Earlier it was announced that the topic of the talks would be, inter alia, the tense situation around the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant, occupied by the Russian army. Guterres recently called for an end to military operations around the power plant.

The Turkish President’s office said that during the talks Erdogan would look into ways to increase grain exports and steps that could be taken to end the war between Ukraine and Russia through diplomatic means. It added that the leader would also discuss “all aspects” of bilateral relations between Ankara and Kiev.

Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant [13.08.2022]Reuters / Planet Labs PBC

Odessa is the main port covered by the agreement on the resumption of Ukrainian grain exports by sea. After the invasion of Ukraine at the end of February this year. Russia blocked Ukrainian ports. The current resumption of exports is overseen by the Joint Coordination Center (JCC) in Istanbul, which employs Turkish, Ukrainian, Russian and UN personnel. Guterres will visit this center on Saturday.

Main photo source: Reuters

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