UN secretary general takes part in Istanbul inspection of ship destined for Ukraine

ISTANBUL. Aug 22 (Interfax) - UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has taken part in an inspection of a ship destined for Ukraine at the Istanbul seaport, the Anadolu agency said on Saturday.

The inspectors and Guterres took a boat to the SSI Invincible II, which would go to Chornomorsk and take grain aboard. The secretary general was not directly involved in the onboard inspection. Later on, he visited the Istanbul-based Joint Coordination Center, which organizes grain transportation from Ukraine by sea.

According to Anadolu, Guterres noted that the Istanbul agreement applied to both Ukrainian and Russian products. "The other part that is also important, that we have been defending, relate to the unimpeded access to the global markets of Russian food and fertilizer, which are not subject to sanctions," the agency quoted him as saying.

"Without fertilizer in 2022, there may not be enough food in 2023," Guterres said.

For his part, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Saturday that the grain deal made in Istanbul in summer had enabled the transportation of over 650,000 tonnes of products and Turkey was expecting further growth of the shipments.

"In all, 51 ships have been under control of the Joint Coordination Center since August 1, including 27 that have departed from Ukrainian ports and 24 that have arrived in Ukrainian ports for loading. As of this day, 656,349 tonnes of grain have been shipped from Ukrainian ports. We are expecting further growth of these shipments," the agency quoted Akar as saying.