Global food shortages cannot be resolved without Russian food, fertilizers - Guterres

ISTANBUL. Aug 18 (Interfax) - The UN secretary-general said on Thursday that the global food crisis cannot be resolved without securing global access to Russian food and fertilizers, the Anadolu agency reported.

"There is no solution to the global food crisis without ensuring full global access to Ukraine's food products and Russian food and fertilizers," Antonio Guterres was quoted as saying after a trilateral meeting with the Turkish and Ukrainian presidents in Lviv.

He also expressed "serious concern" with the situation around the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) and warned against the use of such facilities as military targets, the Turkish media said.

"Any potential damage to Zaporizhzhya [NPP] is suicide, it must not be used as part of any military operation," Guterres was quoted by the Eha News website as saying.

He hailed the implementation of the Istanbul initiative on Ukrainian grain exports and said that before the winter comes, the UN would like to intensify the export of foodstuffs from Ukraine's ports.

On Wednesday, Guterres' deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said that during his Lviv visit, the secretary-general would attempt to facilitate de-escalation in Ukraine.

Earlier, the secretary-general's spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that after Lviv Guterres will travel to Odesa and visit the local port.