NATO, Ukraine to discuss Black Sea grain issue at Zelenskiy's request
NATO and Ukraine are to discuss security in the Black Sea next week, particularly the operation of a corridor for grain exports, at the request of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Western alliance said on Saturday, Reuters reports.
NATO spokesperson Oanu Lungescu said the NATO-Ukraine Council, set up at this month's alliance summit, would discuss the situation following Russia's withdrawal from the year-old deal overseeing grain exports from Ukrainian ports.
Zelenskiy said he had requested the meeting in a telephone conversation with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. Lungescu said the two men discussed Russia's pullout from the deal and its "continued attempts to weaponise food, which are affecting millions of vulnerable people around the world".
The meeting, she said, would take place at the level of ambassadors. The council's inaugural meeting, at NATO's summit in Vilnius, was attended by heads of state or government.
