July 4 (Reuters) – Ukraine is in talks with Turkey and the United Nations to secure guarantees for grain exports from Ukrainian ports, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday.

“There are actually talks going on with Turkey and the UN (and) our representatives who are responsible for the safety of grain leaving our ports,” Zelenskiy told a news conference alongside the prime minister. Swedish Magdalena Andersson.

“It’s a very important thing that someone guarantees the safety of the ships for this or that country – apart from Russia, which we don’t trust. So we need safety for the ships that will come here to load food.”

Zelenskiy said Ukraine was working “directly” with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on the issue and that the organization was “playing a leading role, not as a moderator”.

Reports have suggested in recent weeks that such talks will soon take place in Turkey.

Ukraine, one of the world’s leading grain exporters, accuses Russia of blocking the movement of its ships, and Zelenskiy said 22 million tonnes of grain were currently stuck with a new harvest of around 60 million. tons expected in the fall.

Russia denies blocking any movement of grain and says Ukraine is responsible for the lack of movement, in part because of what it says are mining operations at its ports.

Ukraine has also accused Russia of stealing grain from its warehouses and smuggling it out of the country – either to Russian-occupied areas, to Russia itself, or to other countries.

A Turkish official said on Monday that Turkey had stopped a Russian-flagged freighter off its Black Sea coast and was investigating a Ukrainian allegation that it was carrying stolen grain.

Reporting by Ronald Popeski Editing by Bill Berkrot

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