KYIV: Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday he had asked the head of NATO to convene a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council to discuss security in the Black Sea, particularly the operation of a corridor for Ukrainian grain exports.
Russia this week pulled out of the UN-backed grain corridor deal, saying Western countries had ignored its demands to ensure Moscow’s food and fertilizer exports. Russia said ships heading to Ukraine’s Black Sea ports could be considered military targets.
In his nightly video address, Zelensky said he had asked NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during a telephone call to convene the council, which was set up at this month’s NATO summit.
“In our cooperation, we have moved to a new, more advanced level, the NATO-Ukraine Council, and this mechanism can have an impact,” Zelensky said.
“I proposed to Jens that the council be convened without delay for relevant crisis consultations. The meeting will take place in the coming days. We can overcome the security crisis in the Black Sea.”
There was no immediate indication whether NATO had agreed to such a proposal.
The United Nations’ aid chief told the UN Security Council on Friday that a spike in grain prices since Russia quit the deal “potentially threatens hunger and worse for millions of people.”
Zelensky wants NATO-Ukraine Council to meet over Black Sea grain issue
https://arab.news/4xd6m
Zelensky wants NATO-Ukraine Council to meet over Black Sea grain issue
- Russia this week pulled out of the UN-backed grain corridor deal
- Zelenskiy said he had asked NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during a telephone call to convene the council
Coast Guard rescue 52 migrants off Greece, boy missing
- They found 13 migrants who had arrived on the small, uninhabited island
- Another 39 migrants were found on board an inflatable boat off the southern island of Crete
ATHENS: Greek coast guard were searching Thursday for a missing child off the island of Farmakonisi after rescuing 52 migrants in two separate incidents in the Aegean Sea, local media reported.
They found 13 migrants who had arrived on the small, uninhabited island, but one boy was reported missing from the group, said the ANA news agency.
Another 39 migrants were found on board an inflatable boat off the southern island of Crete, according to the same source. They were taken to the village of Kaloi Limenes in Crete. No details about their nationality were provided.
Two coast guard vessels and an airforce helicopter were deployed for the operation off Farmakonisi, opposite the Turkish coast.
Many migrants try to reach the Greek islands from Turkiye or Libya as a way of entering the European Union. But both crossings are perilous.
Earlier this month, 17 people were found dead in a migrant boat drifting off Crete. Another 15 people were reported missing. The vessel had set off from the Libyan port of Tobruk and most of those who died were from Sudan or Egypt.
The UN refugee agency said more than 16,770 asylum seekers in the EU have arrived on Crete since the start of the year — more than any other island in the Aegean Sea.
